News & Updates

The Modern Family Court Judge: Knowledge, Qualities, and Skills for Success, originally published by the Honoring Families Initiative in October 2014, has been republished in the April 2015 edition of Family Court Review. The paper focuses on the…

On April 29, 2015, the United States Supreme Court adopted amendments to the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure and submitted them to Congress. The long-awaited amendments, often described as a “package” of complementary amendments, focus on increasing cooperation, achieving proportionality in discovery, and encouraging early case management by judges.

Last week, IAALS honored the American College of Trial Lawyers (ACTL) Task Force on Discovery and Civil Justice at the 8th Annual Rebuilding Justice Award Dinner in downtown Denver. With profound gratitude, we recognized the dedication of the Task…

In a ruling that took some fair courts advocates by surprise, the U.S. Supreme Court upheld the authority of states to bar judges and judicial candidates from personally soliciting campaign contributions. Chief Justice Roberts delivered the majority opinion in Williams-Yulee v. The Florida Bar, holding that “[a] State’s decision to elect judges does not compel it to compromise public confidence in their integrity.”

The 2015 Annual Meeting of The Association of American Law School (AALS), entitled Legal Education at the Crossroads, provided much discussion around the critical choices facing law schools. Alli Gerkman, Director of Educating Tomorrow’s Lawyers, was…

The American Board of Trial Advocates (ABOTA) has long been a leader in preserving and promoting the civil jury trial right provided by the Seventh Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. This week ABOTA hosts a National Jury Summit in San Francisco…

A recent paper identified areas where legal employers’ expectations concerning law students and recent graduates diverge. Through an anonymous survey sent to law firm employers, the professors gathered information in 3 primary areas: 1) hiring lawyers’ expectations regarding writing samples that accompany job applications; 2) supervisors’ expectations about the legal document types (i.e., genres) that new lawyers write; and 3) the habits of attorneys who supervise new lawyers.

The 640-page Agenda Book reflects the broad range of matters currently being tackled by the federal Civil Rules Advisory Committee, which met in Washington, D.C., on April 9. Issues include the proposed rule amendments currently before the Supreme…

The Alaska Supreme Court has issued an Order establishing an informal trial for divorce, property division, parenting agreements, and child support cases. The informal trial process is voluntary. If both parties to a case consent to an informal trial, they will speak directly to the judge and the Rules of Evidence will be relaxed.

Many law schools are answering the call for “practice-ready” graduates by implementing and growing clinical programs, externships, and simulation courses. The National Jurist recently announced its 2015 Best Schools for Practical Training, with rankings and grades given to schools based on the percentage of their full-time students who participate in practice-focused programs.

Our 24 Principles lay the foundation for achieving fundamental improvement of our system to help ensure that no one is shut out due to a lengthy and expensive process.

In April, over half of Wisconsin voters approved a proposed constitutional amendment that will allow the members of the state supreme court to select its chief justice, rather than the chief justice being determined by seniority.

Over the last eight years, our impacts have been felt across the country. A critical component of our success lies in our approach to tackling the challenging issues we face.

The National Center for Access to Justice (NCAJ) launched the Justice Index just over a year ago. This first-of-its-kind Index provides a spectrum of data that compares states in regards to access to justice across four categories: 1) number of civil…

In the fall of 2013, IAALS and the National Judicial College co-hosted an educational summit exclusively tailored for state court judges on all facets of the discovery of ESI—from preservation to production to eventual use at trial. In attendance…

The prestige of your law school is not all that counts when it comes to making partner at a big law firm. In a recent study of 33,000 lawyers at the largest 115 law firms in the country, it was shown that a large number of partners came from “less…

This month, IAALS will hold its annual Rebuilding Justice Award Dinner and honor the members of the American College of Trial Lawyers Task Force on Discovery and Civil Justice. The Task Force began its work with IAALS in 2008, with goal of generating a nationwide discussion about the state of our civil justice system and promoting active consideration of proposed changes to make the system more accessible, affordable, efficient, and just.

The West Virginia legislature has passed, and the governor has signed, a bill that makes elections for the state's judges nonpartisan. Despite the new legislation, it is not possible to remove all traces of partisanship from judicial races. An additional consequence of the new law is that it effectively ends straight-ticket voting for judges.

The Texas Lawyer recently reported on Texas’ downward trend in civil lawsuits, which have dropped 17 percent over the last 10 years. The change in numbers presents many questions, with different perspectives as to the cause on all sides. Texas Supreme Court Chief Justice Nathan Hecht has said that the state’s judiciary must delve further into the statistics to find answers.

The Women's Legal Centre ACT (Australian Capital Territory), in the Australian capital of Canberra, has opened a divorce clinic for women from diverse cultural backgrounds. The clinic provides free legal advice and representation to women in troubled marriages who may encounter issues navigating the Australian legal system.