• Image of Natalie Anne Knowlton
    Natalie Anne Knowlton
November 7, 2013
Drawing attention to the costs of high-end divorce, Justice Matthew Cooper of the New York Supreme Court recently refused to go along with longstanding legal precedent that assigns responsibility for attorneys’ fees in divorce cases to the party with the most assets. Justice Cooper made his ruling in the three-year divorce case of hedge fund manager George Sykes, which has accumulated approximately $1 million in legal fees to-date.
  • Image of Malia Reddick
    Malia Reddick
November 6, 2013
Pennsylvania is one of at least four states that holds judicial elections in off-years. This November, two candidates competed for a seat on the superior court (an intermediate appellate court) and four appellate judges, including two supreme court justices, stood for retention. Additionally, in New York, voters considered a proposed constitutional amendment that would have raised the mandatory retirement age for judges on the state's highest court and major trials courts.
  • Image of Mark A. Nadeau
    Mark A. Nadeau
November 5, 2013
We all know the story here: law graduates are having difficulty getting jobs after spending a good chunk of money on tuition. So, what are we to do? We must change the nature of teaching and the programs taught to address two key issues: (a) the standard methodology of law school instruction is failing (the Socratic method); and (b) whatever is being taught at law schools does not interest employers post-graduation.
  • Image of Zachary Willis
    Zachary Willis
October 31, 2013
Appellate judges in 38 states stand for election. But how much do we know about them? Are they fair? Do they write opinions that parties can understand? Are they doing a good job? With only a fraction of states providing such information about appellate judges, very few voters have what they need to make an informed and responsible decision at the ballot box. We at IAALS are working to change that with our newest publication.
  • Image of Katherine Kirk
    Katherine Kirk
October 30, 2013
In a recent article for The Recorder, Rachel Van Cleave, dean of Golden Gate University School of Law, an Educating Tomorrow’s Lawyers Consortium School, champions the efforts of ETL and its collaborative approach to changing legal education. Dean Van Cleave suggests that experiential learning opportunities, like clinics and simulation courses, can be expanded even further to give students a more well-rounded education that exposes them to broader skill sets that are sought by law firms.
  • Image of Malia Reddick
    Malia Reddick
October 30, 2013
IAALS is thrilled by the news that Judge Russell Carparelli of the Colorado Court of Appeals will take the helm at the American Judicature Society (AJS) as of January 1, 2014. IAALS has partnered with AJS on a handful of projects and we look forward to strengthening our collaborative relationship under his leadership. And Judge Carparelli is also a friend of IAALS in both the professional and personal sense, engaged actively in our Educating Tomorrow's Lawyers and Quality Judges Initiatives.
  • Image of Malia Reddick
    Malia Reddick
October 29, 2013
According to a new poll, nearly nine in ten voters believe that judicial campaign support—whether in the form of direct contributions or independent spending—influences judicial decisions. This figure is a sharp increase from similar polls conducted over the last decade. These heightened concerns could be a reaction to the U.S. Supreme Court's decision in Citizens United or to a marked rise in judicial election spending, particularly by outside groups, in recent years.
  • Image of Corina D. Gerety
    Corina D. Gerety
October 29, 2013
This short update on the Colorado Civil Access Pilot Project evaluation provides information on the specifics and timing of the evaluation that IAALS is conducting in Colorado. We hope this information will provide some reassurance to the Colorado legal community on what to expect in the coming year, while also providing some insight into other evaluation processes that are going on around the country.
  • Image of Malia Reddick
    Malia Reddick
October 28, 2013
Florida has a commission-based judicial appointment process wherein the governor appoints all members of the nominating commissions, with some of the governor's appointees come from candidate lists submitted by the Florida Bar. According to a new report, Governor Rick Scott often rejects the bar lists and requests additional names, unlike his predecessors Charlie Crist and Jeb Bush, who always accepted the bar's recommendations. And, the pace of these rejections is expected to rise.
  • Image of Alli Gerkman
    Alli Gerkman
October 28, 2013
Professor Anthony C. Infanti, Associate Dean for Academic Affairs and Professor at the University of Pittsburgh School of Law, uses a problem-based teaching method to expose students to the complex concept of international tax law. Through this course, Professor Infanti exposes students to what practicing international tax law is really like. The full course portfolio is now available online, including teaching objectives and outcomes, application tools, videos, course materials, and student work.
  • Image of Malia Reddick
    Malia Reddick
October 23, 2013
According to a new analysis, justices on Wisconsin's high court tend to favor parties whose attorneys contributed to their election campaigns. With respect to campaign donations made prior to rulings, justices included in the study ruled in favor of donors 59 percent at the time. This does not establish that campaign support actually influenced decisions, but fair courts advocates worry that the public perceives this to be the case.
  • Image of Brittany Kauffman
    Brittany Kauffman
October 22, 2013
Many jurisdictions around the country have implemented alternative processes that are designed to provide litigants with speedy and less expensive access to civil trials. These programs generally involve a simplified pretrial process and a shortened trial on an expedited basis. This new resource offers a summary chart of the various programs nationwide and specific details for each.