News & Updates

The National Center for State Courts recently released an “explainer video” for courts to use as a resource when educating the public about the role of our state courts. The video looks back at the establishment of the judicial branch and the vision of our founders—of a court system that makes decisions based on law not public opinion, that is fair and impartial, that is accountable to the law and the Constitution, and open to people.

On August 12, retired U.S. Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O'Connor delivered the keynote address at the 2013 Legislative Summit of the National Conference of State Legislatures in Atlanta, Georgia. Justice O'Connor expressed concern that processes for selecting judges are becoming increasingly politicized, and that civics education is essential in helping young people understand that judges are obligated to make decisions based on the law, even if those decisions are politically unpopular.

The supreme court requested that the legislature create 72 new judgeships, but budget shortfalls make such a step unlikely. The court has requested new judgeships in each of the past five budget years.

Kim Kardashian West wears many hats: reality television star, media personality, businesswoman, wife, and mother. But the second eldest Kardashian told Vogue she has plans to add “lawyer” to her list of titles, though she has no plans to take the LSAT or apply to law schools. Instead, she is “reading the law”—an alternate, apprenticeship-based path to becoming a lawyer.

Earlier this year, a local news channel praised the University of Miami's Health and Elder Law Medical Legal Partnership in a piece entitled "Joining Forces.” The clinic, run in part by JoNel Newman of the University of Miami School of Law (an ETL Consortium school), takes an innovative approach to treating the legal and medical issues patients face when seeking care by assigning both a medical student and law student to each case.

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.

IAALS submitted this comment to the California State Bar Task Force on Access Through Innovation for Legal Services (ATILS) as part of its request for public comment on its tentative regulatory recommendations for enhancing the delivery of, and access to, legal services. Through our Unlocking Legal Regulation project, which is launching soon, we are partnering with Utah to bring bold innovation to the realm of legal regulation and the provision of legal services.

Harvard Law School's “Case Studies Blog” recently featured the University of Denver Sturm College of Law's Lawyering Process Program as one that helps students begin to develop their identities as lawyers in the first year of law school. Lawyering Process retains all of the traditional research and writing instruction, while also integrating problem solving, practical simulations, self-reflection, and feedback from professors, peers, and practitioners.

Harvard's new Initiative for Learning and Teaching recently kicked off with a conference focused on teaching and learning, including demonstrations of innovative teaching methods.

Technology has always been a key component of efforts to expand the realm of legal services. Yet, Ontario's former Attorney General Chris Bentley argues that the biggest roadblock to the development of direct to consumer legal technology tools is the lawyer monopoly on legal services.

Dean Rachel Van Cleave of Golden Gate University School of Law recently published an article discussing the optimism of current law students and the responsibility of law schools to "have the courage to make our students' success our first priority." She advocates for law schools to commit to their students by providing them an education that matches their enthusiasm.

The house of representatives approved a measure that would expand the governor’s power over the state’s judicial nominating commissions. The governor appoints the nine members of each commission, with the bar making recommendations for four of those members.

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.