News & Updates

A federal judge has upheld the unusual system that Ohio uses to elect its judges, which features partisan primary elections and a nonpartisan general election. The challenge to the Ohio system was first filed in 2010 by the Ohio Democratic Party, three judicial candidates, and a public employees union, who claimed that not allowing judicial candidates to run with party labels violated their First Amendment rights.

LawWeek Colorado recently featured a story on Educating Tomorrow’s Lawyers, highlighting the twenty law schools around the country that have already joined our efforts. The article included interviews with three Colorado lawyers who spoke about the steep learning curve for graduates and the need to train practice-ready lawyers.

Last month, IAALS kicked off our Pandemic Positives Speaker Series, bringing together a number of courts and legal service providers who, in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, transformed their day-to-day operations to continue serving the public throughout this critical time.

Last month, Suffolk University Law School, an Educating Tomorrow's Lawyers Consortium school, hosted the first-ever "Hackcess to Justice" legal hackathon. The event was designed to bring together some of the best legal and technological minds to brainstorm and devise ways to improve access to justice using technology.

A grand jury charged Justice Joan Orie Melvin with four felonies and five misdemeanors related to her use of state staffers in her 2003 and 2009 judicial campaigns. Justice Melvin issued a statement announcing that she would voluntarily step aside from the court but was not resigning. The supreme court later suspended her from all judicial and administrative duties.

Lawyer development is a single continuum that starts even before the first day of law school, and continues past the point when a lawyer has become an independent, confident, and proficient professional. Until we recognize this fact, we will continue to struggle to develop lawyers properly.

Professor Neil W. Hamilton of the University of St. Thomas School of Law recently published an article that analyzes empirical research on the competencies that legal employers and clients are looking for in new lawyers. For the article, Professor Hamilton surveyed four types of employers: larger law firms, small firms, county attorneys, and legal aid offices. He found all four groups highly valued certain competencies, dubbing them "professional formation competencies."

Educating Tomorrow's Lawyers' newest partner, Georgetown University Law Center has historic strength in linking the practical with the theoretical thereby producing lawyers with a broad range of skills in addition to substantive expertise. Georgetown…

In 2021, Minnesota implemented a legal paraprofessional program to provide increased access to justice for a broader range of low- and modest-income individuals. So far, there are multiple signs that these paraprofessionals bring positive change to the profession.

The proposed amendments to the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure and their potential impact continue to be on the forefront of discussions around the country. During a recent webinar, the Civil Rules Advisory Committee Chairman, Judge David Campbell, discussed the history of the amendments and the unprecedented number of public comments received during the rulemaking process. The discussion of the proposed amendments continued at Legal Tech New York, where a panel of judges spoke on their impact.

The American Bar Association (ABA) weighed in on the federal judicial nominations that are languishing in the U.S. Senate. On June 20, ABA President Wm. T. (Bill) Robinson III sent a letter on behalf of the ABA to Senate Majority and Minority Leaders expressing concern over judicial vacancies and urging the Senate to vote on those pending appellate court nominees who have strong bipartisan support. 

The ninth State of State Courts survey of one thousand registered voters gauged levels of public trust and confidence in our judiciary and broader institutions, with results revealing a decline across the board.

Our 24 Principles lay the foundation for achieving fundamental improvement of our system to help ensure that no one is shut out due to a lengthy and expensive process.

Daniel Girard, founder and managing partner of a San Francisco- and New York-based litigation firm and a member of the Educating Tomorrow's Lawyers Advisory Committee, recently sat down with ETL to discuss his insights into legal education and what he sees as a the most promising new teaching strategies being implemented by law schools and the qualities that new attorneys need to succeed in the practice of law.

Each state with an allied legal professional program has its own unique qualifications to become licensed, but one thing all programs share is that the requirements are robust. Data shows ALPs competently handle legal tasks and prioritize consumer protection, ultimately increasing access to justice.

Washington's inaugural class of limited license legal technicians (LLLTs) have taken their initial test to become the first of their kind. Seven of the nine who took the state's LLLT exam passed and now face the next steps toward becoming licensed…

Our two-day E-Discovery Summit, which was held June 22-23, 2012, was highlighted this week in a LawWeek Colorado article, along with the release of Navigating the Hazards of E-Discovery: A Manual for Judges in State Courts Across the Nation…

The community-based justice worker model is rapidly expanding within the civil justice ecosystem, showcasing diverse forms and significant impact. Here, we explore its evolution, approaches, and nationwide influence on improving access to justice.

How do you talk to children about divorce? And, do we realize just how far the effects of divorce can reach? In a recent article for Psychology Today, Splitopia author Wendy Paris discusses these questions and takes a hard look at the realities of…

Twenty-three past presidents of the Florida Bar signed a resolution denouncing the effort by Restore Justice 2012 to oust three supreme court justices standing for retention in November. The bar also released a poll of attorneys showing strong support for retaining the justices, whose average approval rating was 90 percent, and the 15 court of appeals judges on the ballot.