News & Updates

A district court judge struck down a ballot referendum scheduled for the June primary that called for the election of supreme court justices by district rather than statewide. According to the judge, the measure would alter the constitutional qualifications for service on the supreme court.

The court of appeals ruled that Clear the Bench Colorado is a political committee, rather than an issue committee, and thus is subject to contribution limits of $525 per contributor per election cycle. The group formed in 2009 to challenge the retention of four supreme court justices. 

For the first time in history, the senate judiciary committee rejected a supreme court nominee. Governor Christie attributed the 7-6 vote not to confirm his nominee to an attempt by Democrats to appease unions after voting last year to revamp public employee health insurance and pension benefits.

In anticipation of confirmation hearings for Governor Christie’s two supreme court appointees, public employees unions expressed concern to the senate about the governor’s partisan approach to judicial appointments. They allege that the governor selected a Republican “posing as an independent” in order to observe the tradition of party balance on the supreme court.

A state bar task force is considering a variety of judicial election reforms, including creating a response committee to identify false statements made in judicial campaigns, providing a voter guide with information about judicial candidates, and encouraging candidates to sign a “fair campaign” pledge.

Dean Chemerinsky’s most recent law review article on meaningful law school reform discusses clinical/experiential learning, the need for giving feedback to students, and the realities of budget limitations. “Legal education has changed remarkably little in over a century," he notes. “Change is long overdue.”

Scott Fruehwald revisits the "Langdellian Bargain" and how five Educating Tomorrow's Lawyers consortium schools are pushing the limits of that model. Some of the innovative programs he identifies are the Leadership, Ethics and Democracy (LEAD) Initiative at UM Carey School of Law and a Southwestern Law School program.

At their state convention, Democrats endorsed three women for supreme court seats. One race is for an open seat, and Republican incumbents are standing for reelection in the other two. Party candidates will be officially nominated in September and run on nonpartisan ballots in November.

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

Thanks to a federal court ruling, abortion has become a major issue in the Democratic supreme court primary contest. The court ruled that pro-choice Personal PAC has a First Amendment right to create super PACs. In the wake of the decision, Personal PAC sent out mailers depicting one candidate as “Not Pro-Choice” and listing another candidate’s endorsements by pro-choice organizations. Four candidates are vying for the nomination.

One of the most fundamental skills an attorney can learn is how to properly counsel a client. Client counseling begins from the first meeting and flows through every step of the case. Sometimes it even continues after the case is over. In order to effectively counsel your client when emotion is involved, a lawyer has to be able to let her client express emotion but still gather facts and present the client with legal options to guide the case.

Voters challenged a June 2012 ballot referendum calling for supreme court justices to be elected by district rather than statewide. The attorney for those challenging the measure asserts that the measure adds a requirement that supreme court justices live in the district from which they are elected and that legislators cannot alter such requirements by referendum.

Former chief justice Roy Moore won a three-way Republican primary race for the chief justice spot and will run against the Democratic nominee in November. Moore was removed from the supreme court in 2003 for defying a federal court order to remove a Ten Commandments display from the state judicial building.

In the wake of the recent economic downturn and its aftermath, law schools and legal education are again the focus of intense scrutiny. Unfortunately, there is often more rhetoric than constructive discussion.

Educating Tomorrow's Lawyers has chosen Family Law with Skills at Hofstra Law as one of the classes they are showcasing. This spring I will share the techniques our class uses to teach students about the many layers of family law.

A Republican member of the house of representatives filed resolutions calling for the impeachment of the four sitting justices who joined the Varnum v. Brien decision, but no action has been taken. The other three justices who joined the unanimous ruling lost their retention bids in 2010.

In two posts, Scott Fruehwald discusses the "Langdellian Bargain": Richard Neumann has added a novel concept to the causes of legal education’s problems, which he calls the "Langdellian Bargain" In Comparative Histories of Professional Education…

Lawyers who have already filed suit against 14 law schools for misrepresenting job placement numbers say they plan to target 20 more by Memorial Day.

A recent survey shows that the state’s courts have become more diverse over the last five years, with women comprising one third of the bench and racial minorities making small gains as well. On the supreme court, white males are in the minority, with women in four of the seven seats and four justices of Asian descent.

Howard Wasserman recently wrote a post questioning the notion that medical school offers an appropriate model to law schools wishing to graduate lawyers who are "practice-ready." Jeff Lipshaw responded at The Legal Whiteboard.