News & Updates

American Bar Association (ABA) President William Robinson recently spoke with Thomson Reuters to respond to growing criticism of the ABA's role "in fostering high expectations about legal jobs."

Scott Fruehwald at Legal Skills Prof Blog recently reviewed Contracts: A Context and Practice Casebook, authored by Michael Hunter Schwartz and Denise Riebe.

The January 2012 edition of Selection Snapshots is now available.

On January 1, 2012, Colorado launched its “Civil Access Pilot Project Applicable to Business Actions in District Court.” Five Denver metro-area courts will use new rules of civil procedure in certain types of cases for a period of two years, in an effort to better serve the needs of litigants. The rules are intended to address the problems of pretrial cost and delay in an even-handed way.

The article (subscription required) reviews the Model Order on E-Discovery in Patent Cases and commends the work of the Federal Circuit Advisory Council's E-Discovery Committee and Judge Randall Rader, who unveiled the order at the Eastern District…

Law and business students come together for a Stanford class called "The Role of the Modern General Counsel." Led by former Apple Corp. general counsel Daniel Cooperman, now of counsel in the Palo Alto office of Bingham McCutchen, the class plunged students from the law and business schools into real-world crisis scenarios as preparation for practicing corporate law.

A recent grand jury report included testimony from a witness who claimed that supreme court justice Joan Orie Melvin used her office and her staff in past judicial campaigns. The grand jury was investigating allegations that Orie Melvin’s sisters—one a state senator and the other a former aide to Orie Melvin—used state-paid staff to perform campaign work.

CNN's Bill Mears recently interviewed IAALS Executive Director Rebecca Love Kourlis about the challenges facing civil courts, including resource constraints, politicization and inaccessibility.

The March 2012 Republican primary could determine who the next chief justice will be. Three Republicans are vying for the seat, but no Democratic challengers have emerged.

Randall Shepard, currently the longest-serving state chief justice, announced his intention to retire as of March 2012. The judicial nominating commission will screen applicants to fill the supreme court vacancy and send three names to Governor Daniels. The commission will also select the next chief justice.

Diversity may be a factor in filling the vacancy. Indiana is one of only three states with no women justices, and only one justice of color currently serves on the court.

The court of appeals rejected on standing grounds a challenge to the 2010 judicial retention ballot, an election that ended with the defeat of all three supreme court justices standing for retention. The challenge was brought by three attorneys and based on a constitutional provision requiring votes on judges to be on separate ballots.

A Republican candidate for governor voiced his support for commission-based appointment of the state’s judges. According to Lieutenant Governor Bill Bolling, there is too much “horse-trading” in the current system, in which the legislature chooses judges.

Seven candidates for six seats on Luzerne County’s court of common pleas spent $1.1 million on their campaigns. The losing candidate spent the least of the seven candidates.

As a result of the standoff between Governor Christie and Democratic leaders in the legislature, one-fourth of the judgeships on the Essex County Superior Court are vacant. The governor is said to be refusing to fill these seats because the senate has not confirmed his appointee as education commissioner for nearly a year.

A trial court judge was removed from hearing all asbestos cases after accepting $30,000 in campaign contributions from attorneys whose firms had cases on the judge’s asbestos docket.

While campaigning for the Republican presidential nomination, Newt Gingrich touted his role in helping to fund the campaign to defeat the three supreme court justices up for retention in 2010.

A campaign finance reform task force recommended public financing for judicial elections. The state first enacted limits on contributions to judicial and other candidates in 2009.

The supreme court requested that the legislature create 72 new judgeships, but budget shortfalls make such a step unlikely. The court has requested new judgeships in each of the past five budget years.

Justice Gerry Alexander is retiring after 38 years of service on the state’s courts. He reached the mandatory retirement age of 75 in 2011.