News & Updates

Educating Tomorrow’s Lawyers is pleased to announce Law Jobs: By the Numbers™, an interactive online tool that gives prospective law students the most transparent and complete law school employment rate information available. Law Jobs empowers prospective students to build, analyze, and compare rates among law schools based on 2011 and 2012 data released by the American Bar Association, all with just a few clicks of a mouse. Users can “choose their own” formulas to tailor employment rates and prioritize the jobs that are valuable to 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.

IAALS offers this new report for legal practitioners, service providers, and other access to justice advocates, which details the themes, recommendations, and strategic plans that emerged from our Better Access through Unbundling Conference—with takeaways for every jurisdiction, whether or not they have embraced unbundling to this point.

I am pleased to announce that my new book, Skills & Values: Lawyering Process - Legal Writing and Advocacy was published last week. It is an entirely different sort of legal writing textbook, different from the traditional legal writing textbook in several ways. To begin with, it is a hybrid text, which means only a portion of the entire text is printed, with the rest residing on the Lexis Web Courses platform. It is also based on the assumption that students today need to read less and do more.

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.

As a former president of the ACTL and one of our very first board members, Ozzie has been an invaluable resource at IAALS, and his steadfast dedication to the organization has been critical to its success. We thank him for over a decade of hard work at IAALS and his continued support of our mission. 

The Seventh Circuit Electronic Discovery Pilot Program Committee, which for many years has been at the forefront of efforts to reduce the cost and burden of electronic discovery consistent with the goals of Rule 1, now provides another important resource for practitioners and judges everywhere. The Committee, which is currently engaged in Phase 3 of the Pilot Program, has developed a Model Discovery Plan and Case Management Order (CMO) relating to privileged documents.

As a result of the standoff between Governor Christie and Democratic leaders in the legislature, one-fourth of the judgeships on the Essex County Superior Court are vacant. The governor is said to be refusing to fill these seats because the senate has not confirmed his appointee as education commissioner for nearly a year.

In an important step toward making family courts more user-friendly and less adversarial, the Conference of Chief Justices has adopted new guidelines to help courts be more responsive to the needs of families.

Two retired judges will co-chair a new task force on judicial independence established by the New Jersey Bar Association. The task force will direct its efforts at "current threats to weaken our judiciary." There is longstanding tension between Governor Chris Christie and the legislature when it comes to making judicial appointments, particularly to the state's high court. There is also longstanding tension between the governor and the supreme court, with Christie promising to remake the court after unfavorable rulings.

Three supreme court justices are up for reelection in 2012, but all three are running unopposed and will retain their seats.

In her final post as Executive Director, Rebecca Love Kourlis discusses the public’s low trust and confidence in the American legal system. IAALS will be rolling out the results of its research in the area over the next few months, and begins with three papers, which together kick off a part of the conversation IAALS calls “Are We at a Boiling Point?”

Recent studies are shedding new light on the impact of divorce on society and the individual. According one study, based on data collected beginning in 1948, divorce may be “contagious" and that having a friend who is divorced dramatically increases one's chances of divorce. And, another study found that divorced people were two times more likely to die from the most-preventable causes of accidents than their married counterparts.

On February 6 at Noon PST, Dean Erwin Chemerinsky and Professor Rick Hasen (University of California at Irvine School of Law) and Professor James Sample (Hofstra Law) will discuss the impact of Citizens United on judicial elections.

On the final day of 2019, U.S. Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts issued his annual year-end report on the federal judiciary. In the report, he stresses the importance of civic education to ensure public trust and confidence in our country’s legal system.

The Iowa Supreme Court has requested comments on proposed amendments to the discovery provisions in the Iowa Rules of Civil Procedure and a proposed new rule allowing for streamlined and expedited civil actions. The proposed amendments and new rule stem from a concern regarding the declining number of civil jury trials in Iowa courts, of which there were only 204 tried to verdict in 2012.

Only one attorney applied to fill a district court vacancy. Some speculated that potential applicants were discouraged by the fact that the appointee must run in November to keep the seat, for which another attorney has already filed to run.

On April 10, the State Justice Institute hosted a webinar to launch its new Funding Toolkit for State Courts and Justice System Partners. The toolkit is designed to support courts and their partners as they pursue federal and philanthropic funding opportunities, and includes resources that cover the entire grant-seeking writing and management process.

The San Diego Superior Court has implemented a new pilot program that allows couples to complete a simple divorce in just one day. The program has only a few requirements and is designed to foster collaboration between the parties so that the process can move swiftly toward less-adversarial resolution.

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.