News & Updates

Governor Rick Perry has made more appointments to the supreme court than any other Texas governor. While he has been praised for diversifying the court, his appointees have been characterized as business-friendly and results-oriented. Since 2000, defendants such as oil companies, insurance firms, and other big businesses have won 75% of cases brought by consumers.

Tony is one of a kind. He sees the big picture and can envision unique solutions to old problems. His enthusiasm and ideas are boundless, and he knits them all together and is able to see causes and effects. And, of course, he is incredibly tech-savvy. He is connected, internationally, to the innovators in law and delivery of legal services. With Tony in our midst, we can expand the reach and possibilities of IAALS’ impact exponentially.

In a recent article by Judge Kevin Burke, a member of the IAALS Board of Advisors, and Babak Armajani, they discuss several key areas in which courts are failing to meet the needs of the public, and a few states that are taking steps in the right direction. In states where careful consideration of problems and measurement of remedies is taking place, positive and dramatic changes can begin to take hold in the culture and operations of our courts.

Educating Lawyers, often referred to in legal circles as the “Carnegie Report,” has found its way into a number of articles and blog posts lately. Just Monday, it was cited by Professor Benjamin Spencer of Washington and Lee School of Law in his Washington Post guest post urging that we reform legal education, rather than deregulate it.

Although the idea of equal protection under the law has long been at the heart of the American legal system, equal access to justice is still not a reality for many people. Former American Bar Association President Robert J. Grey Jr. discusses this equal justice gap in a recent piece for the ABA Journal.

We are happy to introduce our newly published textbook, Negotiating Business Transactions: An Extended Simulations Course. The textbook accompanies our transactional law and practical skills course, International Business Negotiations, which has been adopted by nine law schools. The textbook is the first book designed to facilitate the adoption of an extended transactional simulation course using experiential learning and collaborative teaching pedagogy.

The commission on judicial conduct recommended that a New York City civil court judge be admonished for circulating misleading materials in her 2006 campaign. Admonishment is the least severe punishment for judicial misconduct.

Today, IAALS announces the release of a new resource, Listen > Learn > Lead: A Guide to Improving Court Services through User-Centered Design, on how best to solicit feedback from self-represented litigants and other court stakeholders. The tools provided in this guide come from the knowledge IAALS gained through the Court Compass Project design sprint workshops.

According to a poll funded by the Federalist Society for Law and Public Policy Studies, 74 percent of Oklahoma voters favor choosing appellate judges in contested elections over a merit selection and retention process, and 69 percent support amending the constitution to make this change. Seventy-six percent of respondents want term limits for appellate judges.

The state bar association released attorney evaluations for trial judges up for reelection in 2012. It marks the first time since 1980 that judges statewide have been evaluated. The bar, which undertook the project to provide voters with more information about judicial candidates, plans to conduct a companion evaluation of judicial challengers.

It is no secret that divorce poses significant problems for those who go through the legal process. The adversarial nature of the legal process can put people at odds with one another and the courts are not well-positioned to provide emotional and future-planning support. IAALS has released a new report detailing the evaluation of our out-of-court model aimed at addressing these challenges for families with children.

IAALS is honored to be featured front and center in the Fall 2013 edition of The Bulletin, a publication of the American College of Trial Lawyers. The article chronicles the six year journey of collaboration, cooperation, and determination undertaken by IAALS and the ACTL to reform our country's ailing civil justice system. The national response to our organizations' joint efforts proves that meaningful change is not only possible, but within reach.

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.

Last month, the University of Pennsylvania Law School announced the launch of their Future of the Profession Initiative. The initiative aims to “Teach, Lead, and Transform” by looking at ways law schools can “adopt a holistic vision” for the formation of lawyers, both during law school and on through their careers. 

At our 2nd Annual Educating Tomorrow's Lawyers Conference, we honored Bill Henderson with our Educating Tomorrow's Lawyers Award. Afterward, he delivered a keynote address (video here) focused on the significance of the role played by legal educators and the change that is coming. Talking about his own experience with a professor as a later-in-life college senior, he said that educators have the power to "flip the switch."

In its recent litigation issue, LawWeek Colorado followed up with Gordon “Skip” Netzorg and Rebecca Love Kourlis on the first few weeks of Colorado's new Civil Access Pilot Project. At the request of the Colorado Supreme Court, IAALS is studying the effects of the pilot project.

In today’s increasingly busy and connected world, electronic notifications play a significant role in keeping us up to date. One would expect that due to the serious nature of court proceedings that the courts would be up-to-date with messaging or other communication capabilities, but unfortunately that is not the case. However, many courts are beginning to change that reality.

This spring, IAALS will hold its annual Rebuilding Justice Award Dinner, which recognizes individuals who exemplify the spirit of innovation and leadership that we champion across all of our work. We are thrilled to be honoring two longtime supporters of IAALS: Colorado Supreme Court Chief Justice Michael L. Bender (Ret.) and University of Denver Chancellor Robert D. Coombe.

Some Canadian law schools are looking at ways to offer more experiential education: Regardless of the type of experiential learning, whether it’s participating in one of the law school’s clinics or one of its various intensive programs, [Osgoode dean…

Last year, IAALS surveyed members of the American Board of Trial Advocates about their trust and confidence in the legal system and factors that influence their perspectives. A substantial majority of respondents reported high levels of confidence in both the state and federal court systems, but others gave us reasons for their declining confidence.