Events

IAALS hosted a Forum for a small group of stakeholders from around the country for the purpose of gathering comments on the proposed federal rules amendments. Following the meeting, IAALS compiled the comments and submitted them to the Civil Rules Advisory Committee for its consideration. The comments included the various divergent views from Forum attendees, as well as areas of consensus.

Our 2nd Annual Educating Tomorrow's Lawyers Conference took a closer look at these 3 questions: What core competencies do entry level lawyers need? What structural and curricular changes ensure law grads have the necessary core competencies? How can law school accreditation and bar admissions standards facilitate innovation in legal education?

IAALS and the National Judicial College co-hosted the 2nd Annual Educational Summit for State Court Judges: Unlocking E-Discovery. The Summit provided a forum exclusively tailored for state court judges to learn about all facets of the discovery of electronically stored information—from preservation to production to eventual use at trial.

IAALS and the Byron R. White Center brought United States Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O’Connor (Ret.) to Colorado to deliver the 3rd Annual John Paul Stevens Lecture. The Stevens Lecture brings a well-known jurist to the University of Colorado Law School each year. The event was open to the public.

IAALS hosted a panel on the pros and cons of various methods of selecting state court judges at the 2013 Legislative Summit of the National Conference of State Legislatures. The panel featured Justice Sandra Day O’Connor (Ret.), as well as IAALS Executive Director Rebecca Love Kourlis, Lieutenant Governor and Senator Ron Ramsey of Tennessee, Justice Leah Ward Sears (Ret.) of the Georgia Supreme Court, and Georgia Judicial Nominating Commission Co-Chair Pete Robinson.

IAALS, in collaboration with the Federalist Society for Law and Public Policy Studies and the Aspen Institute Justice & Society Program, sponsored “An Uncommon Dialogue” about judicial selection.

IAALS' Rebuilding Justice Award honors individuals who exemplify the spirit of innovation that we champion across all of our work. This year, IAALS recognized Professor Moliterno, from Washington and Lee University School of Law, because of his leadership in incorporating the Carnegie Model into his own teaching and in sharing his expertise across the academy.

Educating Tomorrow’s Lawyers hosted its first annual conference, The Development of Professional Identity in Legal Education: Rethinking Learning and Assessment, at the University of Denver Sturm College of Law. This was a working conference of two-three person teams from the participating ETL consortium schools. It focused on developing expertise around the formation of professional identity in legal education.

IAALS hosted its Third Civil Justice Reform Summit in September 2012. With a wealth of data from state and federal jurisdictions that are experimenting with innovative case management strategies and new rules of civil procedure, this Summit focused on the landscape of innovation and how lawyers, judges, court personnel, and academics can further advance innovative solutions. 

IAALS assembled a panel of experts at the National Governors Association’s Management Seminar for Governors’ Legal Counsels to discuss the importance of judicial appointments to a governor’s legacy and the value of using a nominating commission to fulfill this responsibility. Panelists included former governors Christie Todd Whitman of New Jersey and Bill Ritter of Colorado, as well as former legal counsels to Governor Jan Brewer of Arizona and Governor John Hickenlooper of Colorado.

In June 2012, IAALS hosted a two-day Summit on e-discovery, including separate sessions for practitioners and state court judges. On Friday, June 22, DISH Network L.L.C. co-sponsored a “Best in Class” eDiscovery Summit for practitioners. On Saturday, June 23rd, IAALS presented a state court judges-only eDiscovery Boot Camp, co-sponsored by the Colorado State Court Administrator’s Office.

IAALS hosted and staffed the federal judicial screening committee established by Colorado Senators Mark Udall and Michael Bennet to screen applicants and recommend potential nominees for a vacancy on the U.S. District Court for Colorado.

IAALS participated in a panel discussion that included a history and overview of the Colorado merit selection system, how it compares to other systems nationally, and ethical dilemmas and challenges when litigating in states with other judicial selection systems.

IAALS assembled a diverse group of stakeholders, including representatives of the plaintiff and defense bars, citizens involved in judicial nominating and evaluating processes, representatives from the legislative, executive, and judicial branches, members of the business community, and non-profit leaders, to identify the desired attributes of individual judges and court systems.

In October 2011, IAALS recognized three federal judges as the 2011 recipients of the Fifth Annual Transparent Courthouse® Award (now the Rebuilding Justice Award). The Honorable Mark R. Kravitz, the Honorable Lee H. Rosenthal, and the Honorable John G. Koeltl have provided leadership in the federal courts for the benefit of litigants for years, and have been at the forefront of efforts to reform civil rules to make cases move more efficiently through the system.

This national conference considered ways to improve existing processes for evaluating the performance of appellate judges and for informing voters about evaluation results. Chief Justice Mark Cady of the Iowa Supreme Court was the featured speaker.

In October 2010, IAALS hosted more than 100 guests, board members, and friends of the Institute for our fourth annual award dinner (now the Rebuilding Justice Award Dinner). This year's recipients of the Transparent Courthouse® Award were Nevada Senator William J. Raggio, Nevada Assembly Speaker Barbara E. Buckley, and former Ohio Supreme Court Chief Justice Thomas J. Moyer, posthumously.

In October 2009, IAALS hosted guests, board members, and friends of the Institute for our third annual award dinner (now the Rebuilding Justice Award Dinner).

In September 2009, more than 70 veteran attorneys, business executives, and judges gathered to discuss an issue that many believe has had the biggest impact on the practice of law in recent years – electronic discovery. Part of the IAALS Leadership Series.

IAALS hosted the 2009 Civil Rules Summit. Thirty-two renowned civil justice system experts including U.S. District Court Judge Lee Rosenthal gathered to discuss America's civil justice system problems, but with a greater emphasis on identifying solutions.