News & Updates

The governor, lieutenant governor, and speaker of the house jointly proposed a constitutional amendment that would establish a merit selection and retention system for the state’s appellate judges. If approved by the legislature, the measure would go on the ballot in 2014. (A merit selection and retention system is currently in place, but it is statutorily based.)

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.

Two Republican legislators proposed a bill that would require attorneys to disclose to the judge and all parties to a lawsuit any campaign contributions of more than $500 made to that judge by the attorney or the attorney’s firm within the past five years. The bill would also require the judge’s recusal upon a motion filed by a non-contributing party.

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.

Christie nominated two men who would bring greater diversity to the state’s highest court—the first openly gay justice and the first Asian-American justice. The nominees must be confirmed by the Democratic-controlled senate.

In a follow-up to the annual AALS meeting, LawWeek Colorado interviewed Rebecca Love Kourlis about the team Educating Tomorrow's Lawyers sent to the conference and its takeaways.

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

Republicans legislators have introduced several bills this session aimed at the courts, including changing the way judges are disciplined and amending the constitution to address how judges are selected. A proposal that would have stripped the courts of judicial review over state laws was withdrawn by its sponsor after it met with heavy criticism from both parties.

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.

The January 2012 edition of the Educating Tomorrow's Lawyers newsletter is now available. Sign up for this and other IAALS newsletters here.

Governor Malloy promised to look for diversity of thought, experience, and gender in making judicial appointments in 2012, a year in which he is expected to fill more than two dozen judgeships. Three of Malloy’s four judicial appointees during 2011 were racial minorities.

Calls mounted for supreme court justice Joan Orie Melvin to step down from the court or take a temporary leave of absence as a grand jury investigates charges that she violated state election laws in her past judicial campaigns.

In another follow-up to this month's Association of American Law Schools meeting, this article questions whether the current efforts of law schools and professors to change legal education go far enough.

Dissatisfaction with the redistricting maps drawn by a panel of appellate judges has led to renewed calls by some legislators for changes in how appellate judges are selected. Proposals include adding more citizen members to the judicial nominating commission, which is said to be dominated by trial attorneys, and prohibiting judges from serving on the commission.

Two candidates have filed to run for the supreme court seat being vacated by Justice Tom Chambers, who announced his intention to retire at the end of the year. Former justice Richard Sanders, who lost a bid for reelection in 2010, is considering running as well.

The current standards for education of new lawyers are problematic, but we cannot fix legal education without addressing the challenges that face the legal system as a whole.

The State Bar of California has created a task force that will consider whether the state should require recent graduates to have practical experience before receiving a law license, and how the practical experience might be obtained.

The New York State Board of Law Examiners announced the amendment of the New York Court of Appeals' educational requirements for U.S.-educated graduates of ABA-accredited law schools to sit for the New York State bar examination, including an…

A Democratic legislator circulated a resolution calling for the removal of supreme court justice Michael Gableman, for presiding over cases involving a law firm that provided him with free legal services. The constitution allows the legislature to remove judges by a two-thirds vote—a process known as a bill of address.

A house subcommittee approved a bill that would allow the governor to replace the five members of the judicial nominating commission who are appointed by the governor without bar association input. (Currently, commission members serve four-year terms and may only be removed for cause.)