Three supreme court justices are up for reelection in 2012, but all three are running unopposed and will retain their seats.

Republicans legislators have introduced several bills this session aimed at the courts, including changing the way judges are disciplined and amending the constitution to address how judges are selected. A proposal that would have stripped the courts of judicial review over state laws was withdrawn by its sponsor after it met with heavy criticism from both parties.

After ten years of leading the court, Chief Justice Christine Durham is stepping down from that position but remaining on the court. Members of the court unanimously selected Justice Matthew B. Durant to serve as chief justice as of April 1.

The January 2012 edition of the Educating Tomorrow's Lawyers newsletter is now available. Sign up for this and other IAALS newsletters here.

Governor Malloy promised to look for diversity of thought, experience, and gender in making judicial appointments in 2012, a year in which he is expected to fill more than two dozen judgeships. Three of Malloy’s four judicial appointees during 2011 were racial minorities.

Calls mounted for supreme court justice Joan Orie Melvin to step down from the court or take a temporary leave of absence as a grand jury investigates charges that she violated state election laws in her past judicial campaigns.

In another follow-up to this month's Association of American Law Schools meeting, this article questions whether the current efforts of law schools and professors to change legal education go far enough.

Dissatisfaction with the redistricting maps drawn by a panel of appellate judges has led to renewed calls by some legislators for changes in how appellate judges are selected. Proposals include adding more citizen members to the judicial nominating commission, which is said to be dominated by trial attorneys, and prohibiting judges from serving on the commission.

Two candidates have filed to run for the supreme court seat being vacated by Justice Tom Chambers, who announced his intention to retire at the end of the year. Former justice Richard Sanders, who lost a bid for reelection in 2010, is considering running as well.

The current standards for education of new lawyers are problematic, but we cannot fix legal education without addressing the challenges that face the legal system as a whole.

The State Bar of California has created a task force that will consider whether the state should require recent graduates to have practical experience before receiving a law license, and how the practical experience might be obtained.

The New York State Board of Law Examiners announced the amendment of the New York Court of Appeals' educational requirements for U.S.-educated...