News & Updates

Sofia Adrogué, partner at Looper, Reed & McGraw, and Caroline Baker, a state district judge for more than 14 years, predict that e-discovery will continue to loom large in 2012. With continued reliance on e-discovery forecasted, activity, and debate…

The role of technology and the Internet in our legal system is changing just as fast as technology and the Internet itself. And social media can be a minefield when it comes to impartiality. 

A recent survey asked respondents for their opinions on both court and non-court proceedings for divorcing couples. Overall, only 51 percent of those surveyed indicated they would consider non-court alternatives and only one-fourth believed that non-court proceedings protect parties’ rights. These findings suggest a lack of understanding about out-of-court solutions for families that are often less stressful and less expensive than lengthy in-court proceedings.

Though he believes he has enough votes to move the proposal out of committee, a Republican legislator agreed to postpone until the end of the session consideration of his bill calling for popular election of all judges. In January, the Republican governor, senate speaker, and house speaker jointly proposed a constitutional amendment establishing merit selection for appellate judges.

In a new white paper published on March 22, 11 legal scholars stress the need for jurisdictions to consider alternative licensing options for the Class of 2020 and others slated to take the bar exam this summer, in light of restrictions in place due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

This year, with the economy coming back from the "great recession," the divorce rate has spiked from its 40-year low in 2009. Now that the economy is more stable, and people are feeling financially secure, those who were postponing divorce are starting to seriously consider it again.

The house judiciary committee is considering two bills that would move from partisan elections to merit selection with senate confirmation for the state’s three appellate courts. Members of the judicial nominating commission would be appointed by the governor, legislative leaders, and civic  and other groups and would be diverse in political, geographic, gender, and ethnic backgrounds.

Earlier this month, the Civil Justice Council in England and Wales published a report on the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on civil court users. The report includes results from the council's rapid review of remote hearings, which was conducted to assess what is and isn’t working, as well as how to best move forward.

Last week, the Alabama legislature passed a new law that addresses judicial disqualification in cases involving campaign contributors. The state is an ideal target for recusal reform. From 2000-2009, Alabama ranked first in the nation in campaign fundraising and spending for state supreme court races. The 2006 cycle alone saw $14.5 million in contributions and expenditures.

Dean Chemerinsky’s most recent law review article on meaningful law school reform discusses clinical/experiential learning, the need for giving feedback to students, and the realities of budget limitations. “Legal education has changed remarkably little in over a century," he notes. “Change is long overdue.”

Our legal system needs leaders and visionaries in these trying times—and IAALS seeks the same. In order to ensure the leadership over our work continues, we recently retained a renowned global search firm to help us find the best and most diverse possible candidates for the CEO job. We welcome your help in finding someone to lead IAALS into its next chapter. 

A federal judge has upheld the unusual system that Ohio uses to elect its judges, which features partisan primary elections and a nonpartisan general election. The challenge to the Ohio system was first filed in 2010 by the Ohio Democratic Party, three judicial candidates, and a public employees union, who claimed that not allowing judicial candidates to run with party labels violated their First Amendment rights.

LawWeek Colorado recently featured a story on Educating Tomorrow’s Lawyers, highlighting the twenty law schools around the country that have already joined our efforts. The article included interviews with three Colorado lawyers who spoke about the steep learning curve for graduates and the need to train practice-ready lawyers.

Last month, IAALS kicked off our Pandemic Positives Speaker Series, bringing together a number of courts and legal service providers who, in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, transformed their day-to-day operations to continue serving the public throughout this critical time.

Last month, Suffolk University Law School, an Educating Tomorrow's Lawyers Consortium school, hosted the first-ever "Hackcess to Justice" legal hackathon. The event was designed to bring together some of the best legal and technological minds to brainstorm and devise ways to improve access to justice using technology.

A grand jury charged Justice Joan Orie Melvin with four felonies and five misdemeanors related to her use of state staffers in her 2003 and 2009 judicial campaigns. Justice Melvin issued a statement announcing that she would voluntarily step aside from the court but was not resigning. The supreme court later suspended her from all judicial and administrative duties.

Lawyer development is a single continuum that starts even before the first day of law school, and continues past the point when a lawyer has become an independent, confident, and proficient professional. Until we recognize this fact, we will continue to struggle to develop lawyers properly.

Professor Neil W. Hamilton of the University of St. Thomas School of Law recently published an article that analyzes empirical research on the competencies that legal employers and clients are looking for in new lawyers. For the article, Professor Hamilton surveyed four types of employers: larger law firms, small firms, county attorneys, and legal aid offices. He found all four groups highly valued certain competencies, dubbing them "professional formation competencies."

Educating Tomorrow's Lawyers' newest partner, Georgetown University Law Center has historic strength in linking the practical with the theoretical thereby producing lawyers with a broad range of skills in addition to substantive expertise. Georgetown…

In 2021, Minnesota implemented a legal paraprofessional program to provide increased access to justice for a broader range of low- and modest-income individuals. So far, there are multiple signs that these paraprofessionals bring positive change to the profession.