Congratulations to the University of New Hampshire School of Law's Daniel Webster Scholar Honors Program (DWS) on being selected as one of three...

States across the country are wrestling with the question of whether a mandatory retirement age should be imposed upon judges, and if so, what that age should be. A number of states are considering raising or eliminating their age limits, while in at least one state, lowering the maximum age has been proposed by legislators to try and keep the courts in line.

In response to the end-of-term decisions from the U.S. Supreme Court on marriage equality and the Affordable Care Act (Obamacare), some presidential candidates are calling for changes to the life tenure that justices enjoy under Article III of the U.S. Constitution.

The National Center for State Courts has released its final evaluation of Utah’s significant statewide changes to the rules governing disclosures and discovery, implemented in November 2011. The rule changes incorporate proportionality as a key principle governing the scope of discovery.

The new Idaho Rules of Family Law Procedure (IRFLP)will go into effect statewide today. Several Judicial Districts have opted to implement the rules prior to this date. The new IRFLP are designed “to assist both lawyers and SRL’s by reorganizing all rules that apply in family law cases . . . in a complete and logical matter that is easier to use by all.”

Early results from Minnesota’s Expedited Litigation Track (ELT) pilot program suggest a reduction in the delays generally caused by either the discovery process or the filing of continuances. The ELT provides a more expedited process for select civil cases (such as personal injury and consumer credit) in two counties in Minnesota, with the goals of a corresponding reduction in the cost of litigation and increased access to the courts.

The Colorado Supreme Court has adopted amendments to the Colorado Rules of Civil Procedure, effective July 1 for cases filed on or after July 1. The amendments are substantial and incorporate the best of Colorado’s Civil Access Pilot Project (CAPP), taking into account a final evaluation of that project and implementing the changes broadly for all civil cases across the state.

Nationwide, IAALS is succeeding in improving the American legal system with innovative approaches to daunting challenges. But, we don’t do it alone. We work each day in collaboration with the very best minds in the country to research issues, generate ideas, and implement solutions that will have the most impact for the most people.

In the last few weeks, legislators in two states have passed laws aimed at influencing upcoming supreme court decisions. In Kansas, trouble has brewed between the judiciary and the other two branches, stemming largely from state court decisions ordering the legislature to spend more on public education. Meanwhile, the Republican majority in the North Carolina legislature has instituted retention elections, in place of contested elections, for supreme court justices seeking additional terms.

In a recent paper, LexisNexis examined a study of legal employers’ perceptions of recent law school graduates. In a survey of 300 hiring partners and...

This month, IAALS will convene a group of plaintiffs’ attorneys from Colorado and around the country to discuss the present and future impact of civil justice reform in the United States. We look to others for input on how best to implement the upcoming changes and what culture shifts are necessary to achieve the intended positive impact, and have held a number of convenings this spring to gather input.

With three of the seven seats on the Pennsylvania Supreme Court up for election in November, the stakes were high in the May 19 primaries. The twelve candidates raised more than $5 million and spent approximately half of that on TV ads. The ads tended to focus on the need to restore the high court’s integrity, in light of the fact that two of the vacancies were created by resignations in the face of scandal.