News & Updates

A U.S. bankruptcy judge was rebuked by a disciplinary committee of the Federal Judicial Conference for his longtime membership in a country club that has no black or women voting members. The judge is retiring at the end of the year.

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Governor Gregoire appointed superior court judge Steven Gonzalez to the supreme court to fill the vacancy created by Justice Gerry Alexander’s retirement. Gonzalez is only the second Hispanic to serve on the supreme court.

After a controversial article last week, the New York Times editorial board weighs in: "American legal education is in crisis."

Dennis Kaw is the General Counsel for Appliance Factory Outlet and its affiliates. In his Voices from the Field interview, Kaw remarks on the need for law students to have more practical experience in law schools before entering the profession. He also suggests that law schools emulate the business school model of teaching students leadership and strategy.

As David Segal’s November 19 article accurately reflects, the legal market is changing.  Clients are no longer willing to foot the bill for young lawyers’ training, and thus law firms are increasingly looking to the law schools to produce practice-ready graduates. The good news is that there are clear solutions to the problem, and they are already in motion.

David Segal of the New York Times is again writing about law schools, this time addressing their failure to produce practice-ready graduates.

Law schools are being targeted by the media and by former students for failing to provide adequate information about actual employment of graduates, and for graduating more lawyers than the market can bear. Candor and market sensitivity are important, but they are effects—not causes.

Supreme court presiding justice George C. Carlson, Jr. announced that he will not seek reelection in 2012. Carlson was first appointed to the bench in 2001 and won reelection in 2004.

Bypassing the intermediate appellate court, the supreme court agreed to review a trial court decision invalidating an increase in judges’ contributions to their health insurance and pensions. Governor Christie characterized this as a “manipulation of the judicial process” and referred to the justices as "unelected, unresponsive public servants" and "the exalted elite."

The Wall Street Journal is reporting that Congress might be readying for congressional hearings law schools, their job placement numbers, and the debt their graduates are carrying with them.

The Federal Circuit Advisory Council unanimously voted to adopt the proposed "Model Order on E-Discovery in Patent Cases." The model would limits on electronic discovery. Click here to read the article.

Justice Eakin was one of six appellate judges who retained their seats in the November elections.

At a recent event in her honor, Sandra Day O'Connor acknowledged her unlikely path to the Supreme Court, which resulted in her being the first female justice on the Court. And now she is "breaking ground again and creating her own template for life after the court."

As criminal cases crowd already crowded dockets, civil litigants see resolutions to their disputes delayed indefinitely. Click here to read the article.

The Institute for the Advancement of the American Legal System (IAALS) at the University of Denver today applauds the Colorado Supreme Court for approving the Colorado Civil Access Pilot Project. This visionary step forward joins a national trend among states committed to improving the delivery of court services and giving plaintiffs and defendants access to a just, speedy and inexpensive court system.

Voters rejected a proposed constitutional amendment to raise the mandatory retirement age for judges from 70 to 75.

Substantial contributions from trial lawyers to an intermediate appellate court candidate became an issue in the campaign. Republicans accused the Democratic recipient of the contributions of “putting justice for sale” when he accepted $300,000 from a trial lawyers PAC.

The judicial nominating commission held public interviews of the eighteen applicants for a court of appeals vacancy.

On Election Day in New York, Colby Hamilton writes about the political nature of judicial elections in New York, where Queens Assistant District Attorney Sarah Steiner said, "Judgeships are rewards mostly for loyal party activity over the years."

Responding to questions from lawmakers regarding his record of judicial appointments, Governor Scott said that he will not appoint judges who think differently from him in order to achieve diversity. Of the thirty-six judicial appointments Scott has made, only two have been black.