The house of representatives approved a plan that will, over time, eliminate 36 judgeships and cut $5.7 million from the state’s annual budget. The chief justice characterized the plan as “unprecedented” and “the largest cut in judgeships ever accomplished in the United States.”

New York's Chief Judge Jonathan Lippman has created a task force to identify ways to "better control dockets, manage case flow and make more effective use of non-judicial personnel and alternative dispute resolution within the courts."

Governor Christie criticized the Democratic-led senate for not yet having scheduled confirmation hearings for the supreme court nominees he named in late January. According to a judiciary committee member, they are looking into financial issues involving one of the nominees.

Of the four candidates vying for a supreme court seat in the March Democratic primary, the incumbent and her appellate court challenger received the highest marks from Chicago-area bar associations that rate judges. The other two candidates were found “not qualified” and “not recommended” in various polls.

Stanford Law School announced today the completion of the first phase of comprehensive reforms to its legal curriculum that began in November 2006—successfully transforming its traditional law degree into a multi-dimensional JD, which combines the study of other disciplines with team-oriented, problem-solving techniques together with expanded clinical training that enables students to represent clients and litigate cases while in law school.

In its recent litigation issue, LawWeek Colorado followed up with Gordon “Skip” Netzorg and Rebecca Love Kourlis on the first few weeks of Colorado's new Civil Access Pilot Project. At the request of the Colorado Supreme Court, IAALS is studying the effects of the pilot project.

At Educating Tomorrow’s Lawyers, we highlight the work of professors, the needs of the profession and, increasingly, the experiences of the law...

A Democratic legislator's resolution to remove Justice Michael Gableman from the court for alleged violation of state law and the code of judicial conduct has received little support, attracting only four co-sponsors.

Though they have been proponents of electing judges in the past, two justices are calling for moving to some form of merit selection for the state's supreme court. Justices Crooks and Bradley cited concerns about the surge in spending on supreme court races, as well as the lack of meaningful disclosure and recusal rules.

A divided supreme court altered its rules to allow chief justices to serve successive two-year terms, and up to eight years, and to be selected on criteria in addition to seniority. The revisions are based on the recommendations of a judicial branch study group.

According to the National Center for State Courts, 42 states cut judicial funding last year. The cash-strapped system is the focus of the ABA Task...

Governor Gregoire encouraged trial court applicants and candidates for reelection to submit themselves to being rated by minority bar associations. In making judicial appointments, the governor consults minority bar ratings as well as traditional bar ratings.