News & Updates

The Iowa Supreme Court is moving forward with implementation of a Business Specialty Court Pilot Project and will begin receiving cases on May 1, 2013. The Business Specialty Court Pilot Project grows out of the recommendations of Iowa’s Supreme Court Task Force for Civil Justice Reform. Among the recommendations was the establishment of a business court pilot project, one judge/one case and date certain for trial, adoption of the Federal Rules’ initial disclosure regime, and a two-tiered differentiated case management pilot project.

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.

Consistent with the promise made in its mission statement to “blend practical skills training with legal theory throughout the curriculum,” Golden Gate University School of Law integrates skills training and professional development across its curriculum, preparing students to be critical thinkers, problem solvers, and leaders in the legal profession. This commitment to experiential learning and fostering professional identity within law students makes GGU Law an ideal partner within the Educating Tomorrow's Lawyers Consortium.

Facing sentencing for a corruption conviction and a house resolution calling for her impeachment, Justice Joan Orie Melvin announced her resignation, effective May 1. Supporters of judicial selection reform are optimistic that these developments will lend momentum to efforts to move to merit selection of the state’s appellate judges.

The divorce rate among baby boomers has reached an all-time high of 25 percent, with many more newly single 50-somethings experiencing difficulties planning and saving for retirement. USA Today reports that it will cost "at least 50% more to retire for boomers who divorce," as there is much less time to make up any economic losses before retirement.

In a recent article, The Huffington Post offers advice on how families with teens can better cope with divorce. Divorce can particularly stress family relationships involving teenagers; teens are already struggling to establish their identity, separate from each parent, and divorce compounds these issues.

Four former Pennsylvania governors, including two Democrats and two Republicans, joined together in expressing support for a proposal to change the way the state’s appellate judges are selected. A bill introduced in the senate in January calls for appellate judges to be chosen through a merit selection process rather than in partisan elections.

The District of Nevada adopted a Short Trial Program on March 11, 2013. The Short Trial Rules include the express purpose of expediting "civil trials (both bench trials and jury trials) through procedures designed to control the length of the trial, including, without limitation, restrictions on discovery, the use of smaller juries, and time limits for presentation of evidence."

Last week, Karen J. Mathis was presented with the Community Service Award by the University of Denver. After a distinguished professional career, which included serving as president of the ABA, Executive Director of the Central European and Eurasion Legal Initiative Institute in Prague, and President and CEO of Big Brother Big Sisters of America, Karen returned to her college alma mater last year, to serve as IAALS' Associate Executive Director.

By a vote of 28-12, the senate gave final approval to a bill that ends the role of the nominating commission in appointing court of appeals judges and requires senate confirmation of such appointments. The house of representatives passed the bill earlier this month. The constitution need not be amended to accomplish the change.

The house of representatives approved with a 78-14 vote a proposed constitutional amendment that would alter the process for selecting Tennessee’s appellate judges. The senate approved the measure 29-2 in February. The legislature also approved the proposal in 2012, so it will be on the ballot in 2014.

The task force established to determine how to regulate marijuana in Colorado after the passage of Amendment 64 has no plans to create any laws dictating marijuana consumption in child custody cases. Use of marijuana is a factor that will be treated the same as any other kind of substance use, like alcohol and prescription drugs.

The Business Insider has compiled a list of the 9 most costly cities for divorcees. The list considered each city's average fee rate for divorce attorneys in addition to the financial impact of each state's different spousal support laws, asset division procedures, filing fees, and average divorce process periods.

Chief Justice Wallace Jefferson of the Texas Supreme Court issued his State of the Judiciary message on March 6. In his remarks, Chief Justice Jefferson, who is also member of the Quality Judges Initiative O’Connor Advisory Committee, called for greater access to justice for litigants and families across the socioeconomic spectrum and more efficient courts that can process cases in a reasonable amount of time.

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.

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.

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."

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.