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University of Denver

Institute for the Advancement of the American Legal System

What We Do

Our Core Values

  • We conduct business with the highest standards of integrity and fairness.
  • We are a catalyst for constructive change.
  • We are willing to accept educated risks.
  • We remain ideologically independent.
  • We conduct extensive, impeccable research in order to understand the diversity of opinions and range of constraints.
  • We partner with other entities aligned with our mission to leverage their effectiveness and our own.
  • We develop practical, inclusive, empowering solutions.

Our Strategic Approach

  • Research:  We begin our work in any area with comprehensive, objective research that identifies issues, current practices and critical thinking about the subject.  In appropriate areas, we conduct our own empirical research in order to answer questions and target solutions.
  • Recommendations:  From that research, we develop concrete recommendations or best practices models designed to provide decision-makers with useful templates.
  • Implementation:  On a project-by-project basis, we seek to partner with entities, courts systems or other decision-makers.  We make ourselves available to work with those entities, providing research, connectivity and a voice for change. 
  • Measurement:  We seek always to measure our own effectiveness against our ultimate objectives.  It is not enough to publish papers or make speeches.  Our success is a function of actual change that refocuses the civil justice system on the needs of those it serves.