Many advocates for legal education reform state that the traditional Socratic lecture model in law schools must be supplemented by experiential learning. Professor Kathleen Elliott Vinson of Suffolk University Law School, an Educating Tomorrow's Lawyers Consortium school, recently published a paper advocating for experiential learning through a curriculum that emphasizes problem-solving.

Law Week Colorado recently published an article highlighting the Honoring Families Initiative model for out-of-court resolution of divorce and separation, and custody matters, which is currently being piloted at the University of Denver. Thus far, the Resource Center has provided services to over 80 families, including 55 mediations and 18 final orders hearings.

This week, IAALS Executive Director Rebecca Love Kourlis penned an article for the ABA Journal’s The New Normal, which focuses on how the litigation process is being remade. Kourlis walks down the road that reforms in the civil justice system have taken so far, in an effort to make the civil justice system more accessible, less costly, less time-consuming, and more responsive to the needs of the public.

In an age where much of the evidence presented in American courtrooms is never printed or available in a paper format, it is essential that judges understand the unique challenges that electronically stored information creates, both for litigants and the court. In June 2014, IAALS and the NJC co-hosting Fundamentals of E-Discovery for State Court Judges, a free webcast that judges can still access for CLE credit.

A recently published a paper, entitled “A Primer on Professionalism for Doctrinal Professors,” discusses how and why doctrinal professors should incorporate attorney professionalism into their curriculum. Professor Schaefer offers guidance in developing course outcomes that connect legal subject matter with issues of professionalism and methods for doing so.

With Tennessee's August 7 judicial retention elections just over two weeks away, the TV ad war is escalating. According to the latest figures, the Tennessee Forum has spent nearly $120,000 on an anti-retention TV ad, while campaigns supporting the justices' retention have spent just over $200,000 on television advertising.

A recent study has found that heavy use of social networking sites is “a positive, significant predictor of divorce rate and spousal troubles” in the United States. The apparent association between the use of social networking sites and divorce and marital unhappiness raises questions not only about how such tools are used, but how their use affects marriage.

The Center for Families, Children and the Courts recently released a report stemming from the Families Matter Symposium, which focused on this question: how do we radically transform a family court system from one that disrupts and tears apart families to one that helps heal them? The report details the suggestions that emerged from the Symposium.

Last month, preLaw Magazine released its list of best practical training schools for part-time students. preLaw considered 97 part-time programs, all having 20 or more students, and 22 were selected for the magazine's top honors. Four Educating Tomorrow's Lawyers Consortium schools were named to the list: Georgetown, Hofstra, Loyola Chicago, and the University of Maryland.

The Resource Center for Separating and Divorcing Families provides an amazing opportunity for graduate students to gain real world experience not only working with clients but working with other professionals. As a dual JD and MSW student, the Resource Center seemed like the opportunity of a lifetime, and was more valuable than I could have ever dreamed.

In recent years, I have been distressed to see persistent efforts in some states to politicize the bench and the role of our judges. Working closely with IAALS and its Quality Judges Initiative, we have collaborated to promote processes for selecting and retaining state judges that inspire public trust in our courts and the integrity of their decisions. Today, I am pleased to share with you the O’Connor Judicial Selection Plan—our recommendations for protecting and strengthening the courts.

Why do you obey the law? Because you are afraid of the consequences if you don't? Or perhaps because it is the right thing to do? How about, because you believe that "government has the right to dictate to [you] proper behavior"? The third option—believing that government's laws and legal process have legitimacy—may be the keystone to building the most effective legal system.