News & Updates

For the second time in his tenure—and the second time in state history—New Jersey Governor Chris Christie declined to renominate a sitting supreme court justice. Christie offered two rationales for the decision to pass over Justice Helen Hoens in favor of superior court judge Faustino Fernandez-Vina: his interest in sparing Justice Hoens the senate's likely "political vengeance" in the confirmation process and the need for more diversity on the high court.

Justice Gerry Alexander is retiring after 38 years of service on the state’s courts. He reached the mandatory retirement age of 75 in 2011.

Many law schools have been developing courses based around technology and the law; however, there is often a mismatch between the tech skills that law firms need and the skills that these law school technology courses are actually teaching.

At a recent public forum, Ohio's three newest supreme court justices discussed the threat posed to state courts by significant turnover on the bench. Over the next six years, four of the high court's seven justices—along with approximately 100 judges statewide—will reach retirement age. Justice Sharon Kennedy acknowledged that change of this magnitude could lead to questions about the stability of state laws and their application.

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 two promising developments for regulatory reform, the Arizona Task Force on the Delivery of Legal Services published its official report and recommendations, and the Chicago Bar Association and the Chicago Bar Foundation announced the creation of a task force to identify regulatory reform recommendations. Arizona's recommendations reflect IAALS' vision for a consumer-centered regulatory system that will better meet the needs of all people. 

Educating Tomorrow's Lawyers announces a newly expanded and integrated collection of online legal education resources. These innovative teaching tools give law schools and professors the means to reevaluate classes and curriculum from the ground up, and are designed to help law schools ensure that their students are prepared for the demands of an evolving profession.

On the new blog, The Legal Whiteboard, Bill Henderson highlights an article on legal education reform written by an adjunct professor. Henderson: Law professors rarely engage with these critiques; to acknowledge these critiques, some might argue, is…

Efforts to re-regulate and innovate legal services took a major step forward last week at the Conference of Chief Justices’ midyear meeting, where members adopted Resolution 2. With the adoption of this resolution, CCJ adds its voice to the chorus calling for solutions to close the justice gap and rethinking the current regulatory framework to improve and expand the legal services offered to the public.

IAALS, in conjunction with the ACTL, has released a new report that highlights key civil case management techniques for judges that have the potential to streamline litigation in their courtrooms. Working Smarter, Not Harder: How Excellent Judges Manage Cases documents the recommendations and key practices of nearly 30 state and federal trial court judges, who were identified as being outstanding and efficient case managers.

The District of Columbia Judicial Nomination Commission reported an increase in judicial applicants from 2010 to 2011, including an upswing in the number of applicants from larger law firms. The commission's chair attributed this to a greater effort by the commission to reach out to attorneys representing a cross-section of the bar.

In a recent article, IAALS Board of Advisors Member Jeremy Fogel challenges federal courts to use the data and information gathered through COVID-19-related emergency measures to evaluate and implement more modern court processes going forward. The federal courts’ remote technology response is unprecedented in its history, and they have a unique opportunity to seize on this change.

It is undisputed that divorce can be a costly endeavor for families, but a recent study from Great Britain suggests that the economic impact of divorce extends far beyond the family unit. This month, Great Britain’s Welfare Minister released alarming statistics from a recent study by the Relationships Foundation. The study estimated that family breakdown costs the country £46 billion a year—£1,541 for every taxpayer.

The March 2012 edition of Selection Snapshots is now available.

The Stanford Legal Design Lab's Legal Help FAQs is a central national platform where people can find information on eviction (and related issues) and links to resources that are specific to their area. This work represents an important step forward in the movement to make relevant legal information more readily accessible and understandable to those who need it. 

IAALS is pleased to announce a $50,000 gift from El Pomar Foundation in support of a groundbreaking series of national conversations. Dubbed “DIAALOGUES,” the project allows IAALS to do what it does best—bring together the best minds in the country to forge solutions to the most pressing issues facing the American legal system.

The senate voted unanimously to replace the existing judicial disciplinary body—the court on the judiciary—with a new entity known as the board of judicial conduct. The state bar and the supreme court would no longer have a role in selecting members of the disciplinary body, and greater transparency in its work would be required.

Throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, we have learned to operate almost wholly online—something that many thought was impossible. However, while this move has brought with it a number of positive effects, it has also exposed a digital divide that must be addressed in order for there to be equity in our justice system.

Many advocates for legal education reform state that the traditional Socratic lecture model in law schools must be supplemented by experiential learning. Professor Kathleen Elliott Vinson of Suffolk University Law School, an Educating Tomorrow's Lawyers Consortium school, recently published a paper advocating for experiential learning through a curriculum that emphasizes problem-solving.

In the context of retention opposition campaigns against three supreme court justices, the Florida Bar, the American Bar Association, and the League of Women Voters of Florida launched a “The Vote’s in Your Court” public education campaign.