News & Updates

The Hon. Jack Zouhary, federal district court judge and member of the American College of Trial Lawyers Task Force on Discovery and Civil Justice, recently penned an article for the Federal Lawyer about his case management process and the prioritization of time and resources throughout the life of a case. In broad strokes, he outlines ten of the most important considerations he makes to keep his courtroom efficient.

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

Law Week Colorado recently highlighted IAALS’ new report on the landscape of summary judgment motions practice. The report is intended to serve as a foundation for conversations about current practices and eventual improvements, and recognizes that motions practice—as much as discovery—has a role to play in civil justice reform.

Last week, the U.S. Supreme Court issued its decision in Adoptive Couple v. Baby Girl. The case presented the issue of whether the Indian Child Welfare Act, a law meant to minimize the involuntary removal of Native American children from their homes and tribes, precluded a young girl’s adoption by non-Native American parents. The Court sided with the adoptive parents, finding that the young girl's biological father explicitly gave up parental rights before her birth.

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.

Over the past two years, IAALS has been collaborating with the National Center for State Courts (NCSC) on a three-year project to support the modernization and transformation of civil litigation in our state courts. In October we hosted our final meeting for the Midwest Region in Kansas City, Missouri, where over 40 states and territories attended. 

According to a new book entitled “What the Best Law Teachers Do,” ETL Fellow and Professor Roberto Corrada of the University of Denver Sturm College of Law (an ETL Consortium school) is among the ranks of the twenty-six best legal educators in the United States. Each chapter of the book focuses on a how these professors achieve significant, positive, and long-term effects on their students, such as: how they relate to students, their methods of preparation, their teaching techniques, their delivery of feedback, and personal qualities that enhance their teaching.

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.

Each month, the Colorado Lawyer publishes a “Judges Corner” article written by judges on a topic in which they are experts. This month, IAALS teamed with two judges to tackle the topic of unbundling and the important role that judges must play in promoting and encouraging its use.

Opponents of commission-based appointment of judges—also known as the Missouri Plan, for the state in which the judicial selection process originated—have obtained approval from the secretary of state for two identically worded proposed constitutional amendments that would establish contested elections for Missouri's appellate judges.

After ten years of leading the court, Chief Justice Christine Durham is stepping down from that position but remaining on the court. Members of the court unanimously selected Justice Matthew B. Durant to serve as chief justice as of April 1.

In the first-ever, broad-based research of its kind, IAALS is partnering with HiiL to assess the justice needs of people and businesses in the United States. The issue of access to justice is broader and deeper in our society than has historically been recognized. What we learn will provide the insight we need to reform the American legal system and tailor services to meet the needs of all users.

Studies on predictors of divorce abound. Among the more recent is a study exploring a connection between the intensity of one’s smile—as memorialized in a yearbook picture—and the likelihood of divorce. Individuals who smiled the least in their photos were five times more likely to divorce when compared with those who smiled the most intensely.

The District of Columbia Judicial Nominating Commission recommended three public sector attorneys to fill a vacancy on the D.C. superior court. The White House has 60 days to select a nominee, who then appears before the Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs for confirmation proceedings.

As a member of the California State Bar Task Force on Access Through Innovation of Legal Services, I’m often asked how things are going with ATILS and what is coming next. Considering the recent increase in news coverage of our efforts, the critical feedback received to date, and with the Task Force recently being named to the 2020 American Bar Association’s list of Legal Rebels, I thought it was the right time to put together this quick blog post to provide everyone with an update from the Golden State.

Rebecca Love Kourlis recently joined in a discussion about the proposed federal rule amendments, as published by the Washington Legal Foundation in their “Conversations With . . .” series. The discussion focused on the state of civil litigation in America, the federal discovery reform efforts, the proposed Federal Rule of Civil Procedure changes, and what else is needed to improve the discovery process.

The last election for supreme court chief justice, in 2006, was the most expensive judicial race in U.S. history in terms of fundraising, but the three Republicans candidates for the seat in 2012 are setting records so far for what they are not raising.

The COVID-19 pandemic poses unique challenges to lawyers and law students alike. For many students enrolled in live-client clinics, the challenges of meeting their clients' needs in a transitional environment are particularly demanding. Yet these law students in clinical programs have a unique opportunity to rise to the occasion.

Over at the Talent Code, Daniel Coyle talks about a trauma surgeon who described the best training session he ever witnessed: an unexpected, staged accident, complete with chaos, fake blood, and hidden victims. In law school there might not be much use for fake blood, but there are educators asking students to role play.

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.