News & Updates

By now, anyone who is familiar with the Foundations for Practice study knows that the data provides a gold mine of information for law schools, the legal profession (especially legal employers), and law students/recent grads.  What makes the list so surprising is not necessarily each individual item, but rather the fact that the things lawyers believe we aspiring attorneys need in the short term are all (mostly) completely within our own control.

A University of Michigan research project looked at the effects of divorce on women's health insurance rates and coverage and found that women are less likely to be insured following a divorce. It is estimated that 115,000 women lose health insurance coverage following a divorce and that 65,000 women become uninsured in the months following the divorce.

A new report conducted by Ecorys UK, Experiences of consumers who may be vulnerable in family law, explores the impacts of personal and situational vulnerabilities for people seeking legal assistance with family law matters. Specifically, the study explored access, cost, and quality of legal representation in the modern-day legal market—a market with increasingly more options for people contemplating or experiencing involvement in the legal system.

Last month in Miami, Florida, the Center for Out-of-Court Divorce (COCD), together with IAALS at the University of Denver, received Meritorious Recognition from the ABA Standing Committee on the Delivery of Legal Services in connection with its annual Louis M. Brown Award for Legal Access. The Committee cited that it was impressed with the Center’s family-centered approach to divorce resolution.

In most states that elect their judges, vacancies that arise between elections are filled by gubernatorial appointment. Some governors opt to use an advisory panel in making these appointments, while others have opted not to seek the assistance of such committees.

IAALS Executive Director Rebecca Love Kourlis responded to questions from the ABA Journal about Educating Tomorrow's Lawyers.

I spent two weeks in Australia in May, meeting Australian judges, lawyers, law professors, deans, and legal service providers. I spoke at a conference dedicated to examining the role of empirical data in legal system reform, visited two Family Relationship Centres, and horrified a group of Australian judges by detailing how judges are elected in partisan elections in some states in the United States. The whole experience confirmed my notion that Australia is leading the way in legal system reform.

The Civil Rules Advisory Committee has proposed amendments to the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure to address proportionality, preservation, and spoliation problems associated with today's swiftly evolving technology. Robert D. Owen outlines the events leading to the current amendments (including IAALS’ and the ACTL Task Force on Discovery’s 2009 Final Report), the extensive work of the Committee over the last several years, and the specific rule changes under consideration.

Supreme court justice Michael Eakin, who is standing for retention in November, has so far raised $427,000 to keep his seat. Even though the race is uncontested, his campaign may be preparing for a last-minute attack. (Pennsylvania judges are first chosen in partisan elections and stand for retention for subsequent terms. Judicial elections are held in off years in conjunction with municipal elections.)

In a recent article, Gillian Hadfield, Professor of Law and Economics at the University of Southern California, commented on how the United States legal education system has in some ways become stale. She suggests that law schools aren't preparing graduates to accurately address the legal and regulatory needs found in our rapidly changing society.

The task force established to determine how to regulate marijuana in Colorado after the passage of Amendment 64 has no plans to create any laws dictating marijuana consumption in child custody cases. Use of marijuana is a factor that will be treated the same as any other kind of substance use, like alcohol and prescription drugs.

The chair of the ABA Section of Legal Education and Admissions to the Bar has directed the Standards Review Committee draft a new standard that provides for "specific and severe penalties for the intentional misreporting of placement data, including…

​Bloomberg BNA recently highlighted IAALS’ Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) Protocols, which aim to simplify discovery procedures for FLSA cases. Released last month, the protocols call for a specific set of documents to be released by each party at the start of the case in an effort to streamline discovery and lead to a quicker resolution of the case.

The Honoring Families Initiative is pleased to announce a new addition to our national Advisory Committee—Gabrielle Davis. Davis is a Legal & Policy Advisor with the Battered Women’s Justice Project. We are delighted to see the new perspectives and ideas that Davis will bring to the Honoring Families Advisory Committee.

The Fall 2011 edition of Transparent Courthouse® Quarterly is now available. Transparent Courthouse® Quarterly is a quarterly newsletter reporting highlights from all IAALS initiatives. Sign up for Transparent Courthouse® Quarterly and other IAALS…

The National Self-Represented Litigants Project (NSRLP) recently published a paper that looks at costs awards to self-represented litigants (SRLs) in Canadian courts. The paper notes the leading Canadian cases in which SRLs have been ordered costs awards and analyzes the development of these principles in family law matters. Generally, the report concludes that Canadian courts have broadened SRLs’ ability to obtain costs. 

Following its 2009 decision in Varnum v. Brien overturning the state ban on same-sex marriage, the Iowa Supreme Court recently held that the state must allow same-sex couples to have both their names listed on the birth certificate of their newborn child. Justice David Wiggins reasoned that same-sex couples “enjoy the same benefits and burdens of parenthood” as heterosexual parents and, therefore, are entitled to the fundamental right of parenthood at the moment of birth.

Former chief justice Roy Moore, known to many as the “Ten Commandments judge,” announced plans to run for chief justice in 2012. Moore was removed from the court in 2003 for defying a federal judge’s order to remove a Ten Commandments monument from the state judicial building.

Sam is one of the most genuine, committed people I know. He looks for ways to advance humanity—with humility and grace. Helping hands, opening doors, caring about the world beyond our personal borders is what gives life purpose. He fits right into our mission here at IAALS, and we all benefit greatly from his contributions.

A recent study shows that divorce in early childhood has an impact on the relationship that children have with their parents at a young age and continuing after adolescence. The study analyzed two surveys, which revealed that children of divorce were more likely than others to view their relationships with their parents as “unreliable." Those behind the study suggest that these findings help place the way individuals trust and rely on others in the context of their childhood experiences.