News & Updates

Bill Henderson takes a look at a question that has been making the rounds: What is the answer to high student debt? After dispensing with a number of attempted answers to the question, he says: My own belief is that educational quality is the next…

This week The Metropolitan Corporate Counsel shared its interview with the President of Lawyers for Civil Justice, Wayne B. Mason, who spoke to the need for broad-based rule reform “to help achieve the consistency, uniformity, and predictability that is necessary to reduce the costs and burdens of modern litigation.”  

Two recent opinion pieces in the New York Times discussed the reforms recommended by Michigan’s Judicial Selection Task Force, which included better disclosure requirements, open primaries, and campaign oversight committees. Three of the seven seats on the state supreme court are on the ballot this fall.

A federal judge struck down an aspect of the public financing program for appellate judges that provides rescue funds to judicial candidates who are outspent by privately funded candidates. The U.S. Supreme Court rejected a similar provision in Arizona’s public financing program in 2011, on the grounds that it infringed upon freedom of speech.

Professor Andrew Schepard was among our first ETL Fellows. Here, his school recognizes the honor. He teaches Family Law with Skills with, a course he co-created with Professor J. Herbie DiFonzo. It is based on the Carnegie Model and incorporates the traditional content of a family law course with court observation and extended simulation exercises.

By a 4-3 vote, the supreme court declined to reappoint the chair of the Wisconsin Judicial Commission, which recently found probable cause that Justice David Prosser violated three parts of the state’s code of judicial conduct and recommended a trial by a panel of three intermediate appellate court judges.

The general assembly opted not to elect a judicial candidate who would have been the state’s first openly gay judge. Opposition to his election focused on his positions on gay marriage and the military’s now-repealed “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy.

Two of the three supreme court justices up for reelection face challengers in the Republican primary. One justice’s opponent is running to “expose the corrosive influence of big business on the court,” while the other justice’s opponents “want to restore integrity to the court.” The third justice up for reelection faces a Democratic challenger in the general election.

A New York Times commentary discussed the reforms recommended by the Michigan Judicial Selection Task Force, which included better disclosure requirements, open primaries, and campaign oversight committees. The piece closed by calling for replacing judicial elections with gubernatorial appointments based on merit and lamented that not all task force members supported such a reform.

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.

By a unanimous vote, the judicial nominating commission selected Justice Brent Dickson to serve as chief justice of the supreme court. Dickson had the support of his fellow justices and Governor Daniel.

The May 2012 edition of the Educating Tomorrow's Lawyers newsletter is now available. Sign up for this and other IAALS newsletters here.

The latest edition of Rule One Review is now available. Rule One Review is a quarterly newsletter that shares information about pilot projects and other civil rules projects being monitored by the Rule One Initiative. Sign up for Rule One Review and…

The May 2012 edition of Selection Snapshots is now available. Sign up for Selection Snapshots and other IAALS newsletters here.

The April 2012 edition of the Educating Tomorrow's Lawyers newsletter is now available. Sign up for this and other IAALS newsletters here.

Justice Constandinos “Deno” Himonas was appointed to the Utah Supreme Court in February 2015. Prior to his appointment, he served as a trial court judge for over 10 years.

As the Director of Custom Program, Training and Curriculum for NITA, Terre Rushton (also a member of our Advisory Committee) helps firms address their professional development needs. NITA's learning-by-doing programs are known for developing the fundamental skills (core competencies) that clients expect from associates.

Imagine a country without courts—where the legislative and executive branches of government hold sway. Imagine that the legislative branch makes the laws, and the executive branch has an administrative system for determining both criminal and civil liability and enforcing consequences. What would change? Why would it matter?

In November, voters will decide whether to make changes to the composition of the appellate judicial commission, which screens and nominates potential appointees for the supreme court and court of appeals.

Terre Rushton is Associate Executive Director of Programs for the National Institute for Trial Advocacy (NITA) as well as serving as a member of the Educating Tomorrow's Lawyers Advisory Committee. In her Voices from the Field interview, Rushton comments about learning professionalism, practical learning as a gateway to understanding the role of a lawyer, and developing common skills and understanding different perspectives.