News & Updates

Dissatisfaction with the redistricting maps drawn by a panel of appellate judges has led to renewed calls by some legislators for changes in how appellate judges are selected. Proposals include adding more citizen members to the judicial nominating commission, which is said to be dominated by trial attorneys, and prohibiting judges from serving on the commission.

Two candidates have filed to run for the supreme court seat being vacated by Justice Tom Chambers, who announced his intention to retire at the end of the year. Former justice Richard Sanders, who lost a bid for reelection in 2010, is considering running as well.

The current standards for education of new lawyers are problematic, but we cannot fix legal education without addressing the challenges that face the legal system as a whole.

The State Bar of California has created a task force that will consider whether the state should require recent graduates to have practical experience before receiving a law license, and how the practical experience might be obtained.

A house subcommittee approved a bill that would allow the governor to replace the five members of the judicial nominating commission who are appointed by the governor without bar association input. (Currently, commission members serve four-year terms and may only be removed for cause.)

The editor of the National Jurist looks back at themes that emerged at the annual Association of American Law Schools meeting and observes: The level of experimentation and innovation is at its highest level since I began covering the market 20 years…

A circuit court judge announced her intention to challenge a court of appeals judge in the Republican primary for the open supreme court seat created by Justice Tom Woodall’s retirement. In announcing her candidacy, she pledged not to accept contributions from political action committees.

The 2011 Law School Survey of Student Engagement reported that 83 percent of students rated their law school experience as "good" or "excellent." Forty percent "felt their legal education had contributed 'only some or very little to their acquisition…

A Democratic legislator circulated a resolution calling for the removal of supreme court justice Michael Gableman, for presiding over cases involving a law firm that provided him with free legal services. The constitution allows the legislature to remove judges by a two-thirds vote—a process known as a bill of address.

The approved Pilot Project Regarding Case Management Techniques for Complex Civil Cases took effect in the Southern District of New York on November 1, 2011, and will be in place for an eighteen-month trial period. This article provides background on the project and explores its provisions.

The New York State Board of Law Examiners announced the amendment of the New York Court of Appeals' educational requirements for U.S.-educated graduates of ABA-accredited law schools to sit for the New York State bar examination, including an…

Governor Perdue appointed eighteen members—both lawyers and non-lawyers—to the judicial nominating commission she created by executive order in April 2011. The commission will screen and recommend candidates for interim vacancies on the state’s appellate courts and major trial court.

The supreme court amended the code of judicial conduct to bar elected judges from hearing cases when a litigant, lawyer, or law firm involved in the case “has made contributions or given such support to the judge’s campaign that the judge’s impartiality might reasonably be questioned.”

In upholding the state’s ban on direct corporate contributions to political candidates and parties, the supreme court noted that judicial elections are particularly vulnerable to anonymous spending by large corporations.

The state bar association released attorney evaluations for trial judges up for reelection in 2012. It marks the first time since 1980 that judges statewide have been evaluated. The bar, which undertook the project to provide voters with more information about judicial candidates, plans to conduct a companion evaluation of judicial challengers.

In 2011, fourteen bills were introduced in seven states to remove judges from office. All but two of the impeachment efforts were motivated by disagreement with judicial decisions.

The Las Vegas Review-Journal released its annual report on attorney ratings of supreme court justices and trial judges in Clark County. Reelection support for individual supreme court justices ranged from 56% to 83%.

Only one Democrat is vying for a seat on the state’s appellate courts in 2012. The state’s Democratic Party chairman attributed this to the high cost and contentiousness of judicial elections in Alabama. Three Republican incumbents on the supreme court will be reelected without opposition.

Supreme court justice Joan Orie Melvin was named as a target of a grand jury investigation into potential improper use of judicial and legislative staff for her election campaigns.

This week, Bob Dorigo Jones, a senior fellow of Center for America, called Rebuilding Justice a "must-read" and discussed it in his "Let's Be Fair" weekly radio program.