The District of Columbia Judicial Nominating Commission recommended three public sector attorneys to fill a vacancy on the D.C. superior court. The White House has 60 days to select a nominee, who then appears before the Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs for confirmation proceedings.

Christie nominated two men who would bring greater diversity to the state’s highest court—the first openly gay justice and the first Asian-American justice. The nominees must be confirmed by the Democratic-controlled senate.

In a follow-up to the annual AALS meeting, LawWeek Colorado interviewed Rebecca Love Kourlis about the team Educating Tomorrow's Lawyers sent to the conference and its takeaways.

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 A proposal that would have stripped the courts of judicial review over state laws was withdrawn by its sponsor after it met with heavy criticism from both parties.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.