News & Updates

Penny Pether is a Professor of law at Villanova University School of Law, where she teaches constitutional law, comparative constitutional law, law and literature, criminal law, and criminal procedure. In her Voices from the Field interview, Pether gives several suggestions for how the American legal education system can mirror some examples from her native Australia.

The critically acclaimed Netflix movie depicts a couple who decides to end their marriage. Although dramatized, the movie portrays several realities of the traditional divorce process—and highlights where alternative dispute resolution methods such as mediation could provide a more collaborative forum for resolving family disputes.

 

For the first time in more than 40 years, the Pennsylvania Supreme Court has amended its Code of Judicial Conduct. Among the new rules is a provision that requires judges to recuse themselves from hearing cases where the judge knows or learns that a party, a party's lawyer, or the law firm of a party's lawyer has made a direct or indirect contribution(s) to the judge's campaign.

The judicial nominating commission conducted final interviews of applicants for the supreme court vacancy created by Chief Justice Randall Shepard’s retirement. Three of the finalists are women, and Indiana is one of three states without a woman on its supreme court.

Law Day 2020 celebrates the centennial of the transformative amendment that gave women the right to vote. As we recognize this moment in our country's history, we also remember that the 19th Amendment has not translated to broader gender equality—and that our justice system, too, is not immune to claims of systemic inequality and bias.

The terms of three members of Florida's seven-member supreme court are set to expire at the same time that the next Florida governor's term expires—on January 8, 2019. Recognizing that state law is unclear as to whether the outgoing or incoming governor has the authority to fill judicial vacancies that occur on inauguration day, a Republican senator has offered a proposed constitutional amendment that would empower the outgoing governor to make these appointments.

In an en banc ruling, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit restored provisions of the state code of judicial conduct that bar judges and judicial candidates from personally soliciting or accepting contributions from groups of fewer than 20 people, and from endorsing other political candidates.

The Chicago Bar Association and Chicago Bar Foundation Task Force on the Sustainable Practice of Law and Innovation is one of the latest groups to issue a set of recommendations that seek to address the growing disconnect between the public’s legal needs and the lawyers who can serve them. The task force is accepting public comment on these recommendations through August 21.

From coast to coast and everywhere in between, we have collected stories from real people who share IAALS' passion for and dedication to a legal system that is accessible, trustworthy, relevant, and responsive. Their personal accounts of impact are woven throughout our 2013 Annual Report along with a detailed account of our accomplishments in the past year, which set the stage for an ambitious future slate of projects.

Educating Tomorrow's Lawyers adds two new partners to its Consortium of law schools that demonstrate a commitment to legal education reform and current Carnegie-style curricular offerings. Albany Law School has a long-established focus on student…

On the whole, 2020 was a quiet time for state judicial elections, at least in comparison to recent years. Fewer sitting judges were directly targeted for removal, and most of the efforts to oust judges failed at the ballot box. But even quiet years have standout moments, and the recent election cycle brought several noteworthy developments.

With Tennessee's August 7 judicial retention elections just over two weeks away, the TV ad war is escalating. According to the latest figures, the Tennessee Forum has spent nearly $120,000 on an anti-retention TV ad, while campaigns supporting the justices' retention have spent just over $200,000 on television advertising.

Of the races on the ballot in the May Democratic primary elections, the two supreme court races are the most expensive so far, with the six candidates having spent $1.4 million.

In October 2020, IAALS published its groundbreaking report on the 12 building blocks of minimum competence to be a lawyer, our 5 insights for assessment, and our 10 recommendations for better legal licensing—with the goal of improving the bar exam and the overall licensing process. Here, we cover the first three building blocks of minimum competence.

After reviewing the public comments, and making some changes in response, the Iowa Supreme Court has approved a new expedited civil action rule (ECA rule) and a package of new rules and amendments collectively referred to as “the discovery amendments.” The changes will take effect January 1, 2015, as Iowa weeks to “significantly reduce litigation time and cost, while increasing access to justice."

The June 2012 edition of Selection Snapshots is now available.

IAALS submitted this comment to the Oregon State Bar Board of Governors in support of the Proposed Oregon Legal Paraprofessional Licensing Program. The program would authorize paraprofessionals to provide limited legal services—without attorney supervision—in family law and landlord-tenant matters.

We would like to extend our congratulations to Jon Streeter for his confirmation to California's First District Court of Appeal in San Francisco. He was sworn in on January 5. Jon has been a friend to IAALS for several years, working closely with Educating Tomorrow’s Lawyers. We are thrilled for him—and we look forward to seeing how his new perspective in the judicial branch informs his insights and leadership in legal education, and the evolution of the profession more broadly.

In the coming weeks, we will release two major publications. The first is Cornerstones of State Judicial Selection: Laying the Foundation for Quality Court Systems and Judges. This report begins by describing desired attributes of court systems and…

Brittany Kauffman has been chosen as IAALS' new CEO, effective immediately. Kauffman has been serving as interim CEO since May 2022, and previously served as a senior director overseeing IAALS' programmatic strategy, projects, and research.