In anticipation of confirmation hearings for Governor Christie’s two supreme court appointees, public employees unions expressed concern to the senate about the governor’s partisan approach to judicial appointments. They allege that the governor selected a Republican “posing as an independent” in order to observe the tradition of party balance on the supreme court.

The state judicial commission is investigating an ethics complaint against Justice David Prosser, stemming from a physical altercation with another justice. The supreme court will ultimately decide whether sanctions should be imposed, and Prosser is expected to ask those colleagues who witnessed the incident to recuse themselves.

The court of appeals ruled that Clear the Bench Colorado is a political committee, rather than an issue committee, and thus is subject to contribution limits of $525 per contributor per election cycle. The group formed in 2009 to challenge the retention of four supreme court justices.

A state bar task force is considering a variety of judicial election reforms, including creating a response committee to identify false statements made in judicial campaigns, providing a voter guide with information about judicial candidates, and encouraging candidates to sign a “fair campaign” pledge.

The house judiciary committee approved a bill establishing a public financing system for state supreme court elections.

Scott Fruehwald revisits the "Langdellian Bargain" and how five Educating Tomorrow's Lawyers consortium schools are pushing the limits of that model. Some of the innovative programs he identifies are the Leadership, Ethics and Democracy (LEAD) Initiative at UM Carey School of Law and a Southwestern Law School program.

Voters challenged a June 2012 ballot referendum calling for supreme court justices to be elected by district rather than statewide. The attorney for those challenging the measure asserts that the measure adds a requirement that supreme court justices live in the district from which they are elected and that legislators cannot alter such requirements by referendum.

At their state convention, Democrats endorsed three women for supreme court seats. One race is for an open seat, and Republican incumbents are standing for reelection in the other two. Party candidates will be officially nominated in September and run on nonpartisan ballots in November.

Thanks to a federal court ruling, abortion has become a major issue in the Democratic supreme court primary contest. The court ruled that pro-choice Personal PAC has a First Amendment right to create super PACs. In the wake of the decision, Personal PAC sent out mailers depicting one candidate as “Not Pro-Choice” and listing another candidate’s endorsements by pro-choice organizations. Four candidates are vying for the nomination.

Former chief justice Roy Moore won a three-way Republican primary race for the chief justice spot and will run against the Democratic nominee in November. Moore was removed from the supreme court in 2003 for defying a federal court order to remove a Ten Commandments display from the state judicial building.

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

One of the most fundamental skills an attorney can learn is how to properly counsel a client. Client counseling begins from the first meeting and flows through every step of the case. Sometimes it even continues after the case is over. In order to effectively counsel your client when emotion is involved, a lawyer has to be able to let her client express emotion but still gather facts and present the client with legal options to guide the case.