News & Updates

In every state across the nation, judges in family court regularly deal with challenging custody issues as families proceed through the divorce process. And, recent amendments to Alaska’s divorce laws have added another important custody consideration: pets.

The Sedona Conference® has updated its Resources for the Judiciary, a reference manual for judges that is “intended to assemble and promote a variety of proven judicial management tools to help parties develop and execute appropriate, cost-effective, cooperative discovery plans; avoid unnecessary discovery disputes; and resolve discovery disputes that may arise in a fair and expeditious manner.”

IAALS board member Judge Kevin S. Burke wrote a column in favor of funding for legal services for the poor.

This week, Colorado Governor John Hickenlooper signed legislation to reauthorize and restructure the state’s judicial performance evaluation (JPE) program. Colorado was one of the first states in the nation to establish a JPE program to help judges improve their own performance on the bench and inform voters about that performance for judicial retention elections. The 1988 legislation that created Colorado’s program included a provision scheduling the program for repeal in 30 years—on June 30, 2019. Earlier this year, both the General Assembly and the Office of Judicial Performance Evaluation tackled head-on the challenge of drafting new legislation to keep the program in place, and IAALS applauds their efforts.

On the same day that jury selection began in the trial of a supreme court justice charged with illegal campaign practices, a Pennsylvania legislator introduced a measure that would end partisan elections for appellate judges.

The Institute for the Advancement of the American Legal System (IAALS) and its partners in a voter education effort in 2010 called “Know Your Judge” have won a legal challenge filed by Matt Arnold of Clear the Bench Colorado (CTBC).

The 6th Annual Educating Tomorrow’s Lawyers Conference is right around the corner! In addition to our fantastic lineup of program speakers, we are excited to have fifteen Ignite presentations from a broad swath of law schools and legal organizations. As you may know, it has become ETL Conference tradition to kick off the first day of the conference with a series of Ignites. Presenters have 6 minutes, 20 slides, and 18 seconds per slide to share their projects, successes, and ideas.

New York Magazine has published an article discussing the intricate and often difficult path from gay marriage to divorce. The article interviews a recently divorced couple, who describe their relationship and how it ended, and give an intimate insight into the mechanics of “gay divorce.”

Presidential Newt Gingrich brought national focus to an issue state courts were already facing: legislators and politicians around the country are taking aim at the third branch of government. Click here to read the article.

Kentucky State Representative Jason Nemes pre-filed bills at the end of 2017 that would change how state appellate judges are selected. Should the bills pass, the governor would select judges from a recommended list of qualified candidates provided by a Judicial Nominating Commission instead of forcing judges to run for election. The public would then cast their vote for or against a given judge in retention elections at the end of each judge’s eight-year term.

IAALS’ new publication, A Roadmap for Review: Guide for Appraisal and Improvement of Caseflow Management in Civil Cases in U.S. District Courts, provides the tools for any interested federal judge to make a quick, initial assessment of the status of his or her civil case docket to measure how it compares to his or her colleagues as well as to courts across the nation. If further analysis and appraisal are deemed appropriate or desirable, this Guide provides the user with the tools to do so and recommendations for better practices.

Dean Larry Kramer of Stanford writes that law schools don't necessarily teach the way they did 20 or 30 years ago. Many, he claims, have evolved to meet the needs of the profession. On the contrary, the professional education law students get today…

​At the end of last year, I posed the question: “was 2017 a year of change?” To which I answered, “yes . . . but not enough.” I challenged the legal industry in 2018 to make goals together and support one another so we can become more client-focused, affordable and truly show the value our legal system provides. Several have accepted the challenge, including an entity that’s been a leader in advancing the legal system since its inception: IAALS. One example of their collaborative leadership was co-hosting the “Better Access through Unbundling” conference with the ABA late last year, at which I had the pleasure of being a panelist.

In a recent speech to the Ohio State Bar Association, Chief Justice Maureen O’Connor identified eight areas in which the state’s process for electing judges might be improved. Among the reforms that O’Connor put on the table were the creation of a nominating commission to advise the governor in filling judicial vacancies between elections. O’Connor encourages public discussion of the reform proposals through a new website.

Substantial contributions from trial lawyers to an intermediate appellate court candidate became an issue in the campaign. Republicans accused the Democratic recipient of the contributions of “putting justice for sale” when he accepted $300,000 from a trial lawyers PAC.

According to news reports, a state district judge in Oklahoma agreed to resign following a petition describing numerous acts of misconduct. The case illustrates several aspects of state judicial discipline highlighted in a recent IAALS report.

If the current law school model is dilapidated, then it requires real structural and architectural changes. Legal education (finally) must cater to the needs of students and teaching them the knowledge, skills, and values required to serve clients. However, to reinvent legal education in a meaningful way, law schools must involve and elevate their former second-class citizens on the faculty, who already teach, and have long taught, in the way that would represent real change in law schools.

The inaugural edition of Rule One Review is now available. Rule One Review is a quarterly newsletter that shares information about pilot projects and other civil rules projects being monitored by the Rule One Initiative. Sign up for Rule One Review…

Judges and attorneys from across the country point to dispositive motions as a critical area for reform. Today, IAALS announces the release of a new report, Efficiency in Motion: Recommendations for Improving Dispositive Motions Practice in State and Federal Courts, calling for a new paradigm for motion practice in the United States. The report is the culmination of nearly three years of research, surveys, and expert input into the opportunities for improvement and innovation.

preLaw Magazine's 2013 Back to School issue highlights numerous achievements from our Educating Tomorrow’s Lawyers Consortium schools. In an article naming the top schools for externships around the country, several Consortium schools were ranked among the very top for their experiential opportunities and programs. The University of St. Thomas ranked #1, Northeastern University ranked #2, the University of Denver followed close at #8, with Southwestern University, the University of New Hampshire, Indiana University, and American University all ranking in the top 25.