News & Updates

The Deschutes County Circuit Court in Oregon recently adopted an Informal Domestic Relations Trial (IDRT) process to improve access to family court for parties who prefer and will benefit from a simpler decision-making process than a traditional trial. The process is available to parties with attorneys as well as self-represented litigants, and is gaining support as a fair and streamlined way to resolve many family law matters.

The latest IAALS report offers insights for legal employers and aims to close the employment gap. Many legal employers still rely on criteria like class rank, law school prestige, and law review participation to inform hiring decisions, but how effective are those criteria in making good hires? A study released today by IAALS, the Institute for the Advancement of the American Legal System, finds that when it comes to hiring “the whole lawyer,” experience matters. IAALS’ latest report, Hiring the Whole Lawyer: Experience Matters, continues to share insights from a study of more than 24,000 lawyers that promises to inform the way new lawyers are educated and hired.

Our Foundations for Practice project has permeated the profession as law schools and legal employers seek to bridge the gap between ensuring students learn the right skills and competencies to be successful in practice and ensuring legal employers have the best hiring criteria to secure the right candidates.

Daniel Ritchie, and his longtime assistant, Carolyn Foster, are moving into offices here at IAALS this week. They left campus eleven years ago when Dan stepped down as Chancellor of the University of Denver. But, throughout his various stints in the interim—the most recent of which was at the Denver Center for the Performing Arts—Dan has always said he wanted to return to campus at some point.

At a point when public mistrust of the government seems to be at an all-time high, a recent survey conducted by the National Center for State Courts (NCSC) shows that public opinion of at least one branch of government is trending in the right…

IAALS is pleased to welcome Dona Playton as its new Director of the Honoring Families Initiative effective December 23, 2016. Dona comes to IAALS from the University of Wyoming College of Law where she was a senior lecturer as well as the Director of…

We are reaching out to encourage you—as a supporter of our work—to vote! Recently, the Center for Out-of-Court Divorce, together with IAALS at the University of Denver, was honored to be a nominee for the 2017 American Bar Association Louis M. Brown Award for Legal Access.

The Legal Services Corporation (LSC) released a Request for Proposals to identify potential participants in a pilot project for implementing access to justice portals. The legal access portal concept emerged from the 2013 LSC Technology Summit as one…

There is an exciting movement toward practical legal education in U.S. law schools. There are many good reasons for this movement, including demand from students and potential students, as well as demand from the employers and clients that will hire those students. Additionally, a plethora of compelling studies strongly suggest that adults learn best through practical, contextual, experiential education.

IAALS works extensively with partners from around the country as we take on the toughest problems in the legal system. Our Business Leadership Network brings together private sector advisors to find solutions to the challenges we face. Earlier this…

Reporter Haley Cohen of The Economist recently toured the Center for Out-of-Court Divorce (COCD) in Denver and wrote about her experience in a December article titled Disruptive Innovation: A spate of start-ups offer alternatives to traditional divorce. We’re delighted to see the COCD attract international media attention because its innovative model for separating and divorcing families deserves the exposure.

By now, anyone who is familiar with the Foundations for Practice study knows that the data provides a gold mine of information for law schools, the legal profession (especially legal employers), and law students/recent grads.  What makes the list so surprising is not necessarily each individual item, but rather the fact that the things lawyers believe we aspiring attorneys need in the short term are all (mostly) completely within our own control.

One year ago today, the long awaited amendments to the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure went into effect. The “package” of amendments included changes across a number of rules and focused on increasing cooperation, achieving proportionality in discovery, and encouraging early case management by judges. A new Rule 37(e) was added addressing sanctions for the failure to preserve electronically stored information.

On November 3-4, 2016, IAALS convened a blue ribbon group of judges, scholars, and attorneys from across the country to discuss best practices for procedural rules for judicial recusal. The group discussed the need for procedures that are fair to both judges and litigants, that provide transparency without sacrificing efficiency, and that uphold the public’s confidence in the fairness and impartiality of the judiciary.

The National Self-Represented Litigants Project (NSRLP) has launched a new resource in Canada. The National Database of Professionals Assisting SRLs contains contact information for attorneys offering unbundled legal services, and paralegals and other professionals willing to offer affordable services.

On November 3, the federal Civil Rules Advisory Committee met in Washington D.C. to discuss a range of issues—from current proposed rule amendments to future projects focused on discovery practice and active judicial case management. The Committee is…

Here's an overview of 2016 election outcomes that impacted state courts and judges. Ballot Measures Georgia voters approved Amendment 3, which abolishes the Judicial Qualifications Commission (the disciplinary entity for the state’s judges) and…

The Tennessee Supreme Court recently adopted statewide forms for parties in uncontested divorce cases with minor children. The plain-language forms and instructions will go into effect statewide January 1, 2017, and are available to spouses who: have minor children together; do not own real property; do not have any retirement accounts; and agree on all aspects of the divorce. Universal forms are already available for uncontested divorce cases without children.

Since Colorado is IAALS’ home base, we are thrilled to join in the celebration of the state’s 50th anniversary of the adoption of merit selection for judges. Colorado was at the forefront of a national merit selection movement that took place in the mid- and late-twentieth century.

Last month, we gathered legal educators, practitioners, and judges from across the country for—wait for it—our 5th Annual Educating Tomorrow’s Lawyers Conference. As we kicked off the conference on the first day of fall, we reflected on the meaning of harvest.