News & Updates

IAALS’ Honoring Families Initiative recently released two new reports focused on the experiences of self-represented litigants in our family court system: Cases Without Counsel: Research on Experiences of Self-Representation in U.S. Family Court and Cases Without Counsel: Our Recommendations after Listening to the Litigants.

According to the Des Moines Register, experts predict that more than $400,000 will be spent in Iowa Supreme Court Justice David Wiggins’ retention election. With so much money injected into what is intended to be an apolitical process, backers of the courts worry that the judicial system will become tied to popular political opinion and that courts and judges may therefore be afraid to decide certain issues for fear of an electoral backlash driven by special interests.

Implicit bias can obstruct the goal of fair, trusted, and accountable courts, and many groups have recognized how such unconscious perceptions can affect litigants, judges, and other aspects of the legal system. Recently, the American Bar Association (ABA) House of Delegates took action by adopting Resolution 116, which amended the ABA Principles for Juries and Jury Trials.

Educating Tomorrow's Lawyers Fellow, Professor Michael Madison, has written a blog post examining the state of legal education and emphasizing the need for change. Professor Madison suggests that law schools need to integrate the client relationship throughout their curriculum to prevent the turmoil in the profession from escalating.

Our Foundations for Practice project has permeated the profession as law schools and legal employers seek to bridge the gap between ensuring students learn the right skills and competencies to be successful in practice and ensuring legal employers have the best hiring criteria to secure the right candidates.

According to a system established in 1977 by constitutional amendment, the governor appoints judges to the New York Court of Appeals—the state's highest court—from names submitted by the Commission on Judicial Nomination. The Commission recently began the process of filling the first of two vacancies on the high court by offering seven names for Governor Cuomo's consideration.

This article argues that instead of scholar-driven casebooks, we need learning-centered casebooks that engage students in the three Carnegie apprenticeships. Click here to read the article.

It didn’t surprise me when lawyers responding to our Foundations for Practice survey indicated that “life experience between college and law school” was helpful in identifying that a new lawyer has the foundations (characteristics, professional competencies, and legal skills) that they believe are important.

For children of divorcing parents, grandparents can provide the safety and security that is so vitally needed by them during this time of transition. Often, grandparents are caught in the middle of the high emotion and stress that accompanies divorce.

The Supreme Court of Wisconsin declined to open its deliberations to the public. The proposal was made by Chief Justice Shirley Abrahamson, who hoped it might restore civility to the process. The Court also tabled a proposal to bring in a workplace consultant to work with the justices on collegiality.

When she became President of the American Bar Association, Linda Klein had a goal of traveling to every state to meet with bar members. It was a commitment that not everyone may fully appreciate. Is there really any greater proof of dedication to and passion for the job than committing oneself to a life in constant motion and going weeks without sleeping in your own bed?

Tennessee’s senate approved by a 29-2 vote a proposed constitutional amendment that has been nicknamed “The Founding Fathers Plan Plus.” The proposal would establish a federal selection process for appellate judges—gubernatorial appointment with confirmation by both houses of the legislature (the “plus”).

Through its foundation, Kirkland & Ellis is donating $2.75 million to Stanford Law School to support expanded clinic programs, new student awards and a series of discussions about the legal profession.

How can jury trials be better? That was the question being discussed at the Jury Improvement Lunch recently held in Denver by the New York University School of Law's Civil Jury Project. The luncheon was sponsored by a number of local bar organizations, including IAALS, and hosted by a number of local law firms. Headed by attorney Stephen Susman, the Civil Jury Project is holding similar events across the country at which judges and recent jurors are brought together to share progressive trial practices with the local bench and bar.

Divorce filings in China have surged recently due to married couples’ desire to avoid the country's new 20 percent capital gains tax. Because the tax only applies to second home sales, many couples reasoned that a divorce would enable them to claim that each had only one home and evade paying the tax.

Governor Nixon selected George Draper III from three nominees submitted to him by the appellate judicial commission to fill a vacancy on the supreme court. Draper will be the second African-American to serve on the court. He will stand for retention in 2014.

The IAALS Court Compass project is exploring streamlined and simplified solutions that help people through the divorce and separation process. While the project aims to make the process better for all litigants, there is a particular focus on people who go to court without an attorney. The Court Compass project is employing a number of human-centered design tools, including in-person design sprints and other focus groups to test new processes and solutions in real time and refine them based on user feedback. IAALS and the Iowa Judicial Branch are partnering to bring a design sprint workshop to Des Moines later this month.

The Tennessee legislature ended its 2013 session without renewing the state’s judicial nominating commission, which screens applicants for appellate court vacancies and recommends the best qualified candidates to the governor for appointment. The commission expires on June 30, and as of July 1, there will be no process in place for filling vacancies on the supreme court, court of appeals, and court of criminal appeals.

As criminal cases crowd already crowded dockets, civil litigants see resolutions to their disputes delayed indefinitely. Click here to read the article.

Our courts are suffering from a severe lack of public confidence. In a recent piece for the ABA Journal, ABA President-elect Judy Perry Martinez suggests that the causes are twofold, and to begin rebuilding public trust and confidence in our courts, she has a few suggestions.