The United States District Court for the District of Colorado announced proposed amendments to its Local Rules on March 7, 2013, which may foretell of pilot programs or other special projects in the District of Colorado's future. The proposed amendments are few, but include sections on "Pilot Programs or Special Projects," which may be "authorized by the court following reasonable public notice and opportunity for public comment."

Educating Tomorrow’s Lawyers Advisory Committee member Paul Lippe recently spoke to the "Deans Workshop for ABA Approved Schools," and, while that meeting was off the record, he proposes new ideas and frameworks for changing the current law school model in a post at The New Normal.

Michigan Law has created an online calculator called the "Debt Wizard" that helps current and prospective law students better understand their student loan obligations and how their perspective career paths may impact them financially. Though the Debt Wizard is specific to Michigan Law, the school states the calculator was designed to be relevant to students anywhere.

Arizona’s house of representatives passed a bill that would increase from three to five the minimum number of candidates a nominating commission sends to the governor for each judicial vacancy. The constitution calls for the commission to submit at least three nominees to the governor.

Responding to a 6-3 supreme court decision that invalidated a legislative initiative requiring a two-thirds vote for tax increases, three Republican senators proposed a bill that would eliminate four justices from the nine-member court, citing the resulting salary savings.

The national dialogue about changing legal education has proposed many ideas aimed at making the system better, one of which being the outright elimination of the third year of law school. In the wake of this consideration, Luke Bierman, the Associate Dean for Experiential Education at Northeastern University School of Law, offers Northeastern’s Cooperative Legal Education Program (co-op) as an effective, alternative model that makes better use of all three years spent in law school.

The ABA Journal reports that a South Florida judge has approved an out-of-court settlement allowing three people—two women and the gay man they used as a sperm donor—to be listed as parents on a 23-month-old girl's birth certificate. While the two women will have sole parental rights and custody of their daughter, the settlement also gives the sperm donor visitation rights twice a week.

In a recent blog post, Lance Soskin argued that "litigation is a multi-billion dollar industry that favors the wealthy," leaves everyone else significantly disadvantaged, and that the answer lies in the better use of alternative dispute resolution. I take a different approach. While mediation and arbitration certainly have their place, we cannot and should not abandon the system itself. What we need is a justice system that is more accessible, efficient, and accountable.

In its Winter 2013 edition, The Arkansas Lawyer makes the case for a more efficient option for trial by jury in civil cases, and does so by introducing and reprinting an excerpt from A Return to Trials: Implementing Effective Short, Summary, and Expedited Civil Action Programs. The article highlights the diminishing civil jury trial and its impacts on Arkansas and the rest of country, and calls for action to protect this fundamental right.

President Obama appears to be making diversity a priority in his judicial appointments. Of the 35 federal judicial nominees awaiting a Senate confirmation vote, 17 are women, 15 are ethnic minorities, and five are openly gay. Of the judges who were confirmed during Obama’s first term, 37 percent were non-white and 42 percent were women. These figures are notably higher than those of his predecessors.

With marriages involving dual citizenship becoming increasingly common, Forbes contributor Jeff Landers has evaluated how the laws of different countries can compound the complications of divorce. The article warns that the disparity between the practices of divorce courts may have significant consequences on how someone will be treated.

Recently, Examiner.com reviewed a new mobile application called the Healthy Divorce App, designed to educate and advise users on how to get through the divorce process in an emotionally healthy way. The app was created with the intention of making professional mental health assistance more affordable and accessible to those unable or unwilling to see a professional in person.