News & Updates

Anyone would be hard-pressed to find a prospective law student who has not obsessed over law school rankings like US News and World Report. In fact, it is likely that many prospective students use rankings as one of the heaviest weighted factors in making their decisions about which school to attend. But should they? Local and regional economies and students' personal connections to a community are two factors that are just as important.

San Diego's "one-day divorce" pilot project, founded in March 2014, has already seen successes in its first few months. The program, implemented by the San Diego Superior Court, allows couples who meet its requirements to complete a simple divorce in just one day. The success of the program to-date has made some wonder whether it will spread to other jurisdictions.

Rocket Lawyer, founded in 2008, is an alternative, online legal service provider that many see as a first wave in a tidal shift in how legal services are delivered to the public. They recently published an article on their blog that spoke to the uncertain and shifting state of legal education, and the profession as a whole, and some of the efforts that are being made to spearhead the best way forward, including those being made by Educating Tomorrow’s Lawyers.

Ending months of speculation, Governor Chris Christie re-nominated Chief Justice Stuart Rabner to the New Jersey Supreme Court. The move was part of a political compromise with senate leadership, which agreed in exchange to support the nomination of a Christie ally to the supreme court. The deal between Governor Christie, a Republican, and Democrats in the senate will fill one of two seats on a court that has had two vacancies since early 2012.

The University of Denver Sturm College of Law, one of ETL's Consortium schools, now offers a Live Client Guarantee. The Guarantee ensures that every student can receive hands-on client interactions outside of the classroom. The University of Denver is one of only 16 law schools that have such a guarantee, including three other ETL Consortium schools.

At its meeting last week, the Judicial Conference’s Committee on Rules of Practice and Procedure approved the proposed amendments to the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, as recommended by the Advisory Committee on Rules of Civil Procedure. The approved amendments will be reviewed by the Judicial Conference of the United States and, if approved, will move to the U.S. Supreme Court for a review and vote before May 1, 2015.

As the burgeoning campaign in opposition to the retention of the three Tennessee justices continues, those justices are responding with their own campaign. They recently gave an interview to a local news outlet in which they discussed the threat that the retention challenge poses to judicial independence. The Tennessee and Nashville bar associations have both entered the fray as well.

Douglas O. Linder and Nancy Levit have compiled a handbook outlining what it takes to be a good lawyer. Drawing upon recent social science research and the experience of excellent practicing attorneys, Linder and Levit suggest that good lawyers must develop their practice beyond simply having the intellectual ability to understand the law. In The Good Lawyer: Seeking Quality in the Practice of Law, they outline crucial qualities to lawyering.

In advance of this week's Standing Committee meeting on May 29 and 30, the Advisory Committee on Civil Rules has drafted a new Committee Note to accompany its newly revised proposed Rule 37(e). This is another step forward in the long process of adopting revisions to the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure. The Note provides additional insight into the new rule's "reasonable steps to preserve" language.

The Journal of Legal Education of Southwestern Law School recently published an article surveying the landscape of legal education. Authors Stephen Daniels, Martin Katz, and William Sullivan used an Educating Tomorrow's Lawyers survey to discuss changes that have been made by the legal academy and whether these changes were forceful enough to overcome the inertia of traditional legal education.

A recent blog post, penned by former Judge Steven I. Platt, argues for implementing a short, summary, and expedited civil jury trial process in Maryland. There continues to be great interest in these programs, which generally involve a simplified pretrial process and a shortened, expedited trial, and multiple jurisdictions around the country are considering implementing them. As these programs continue to grow in popularity, we recommend several resources.

A national conversation is ongoing about the future of our civil justice system, and research is being conducted on the litigation process by a number of individuals and organizations. To help make sense of the latest research and to bring it down to a manageable size, we have created a new report that synthesizes the relevant empirical research conducted by a variety of organizations and individuals.

On June 11, 2014, IAALS and the NJC will co-host a webcast for state court judges at no cost. This webcast will enable judges to: adjudicate disputes involving ESI, including the identification, preservation, search, review, production, and admission of ESI; apply ESI terminology such as metadata and native format correctly; and use resources developed by IAALS to assist state court judges in effectively handling e-discovery.

As a soon-to-be-graduate, I often find my head swirling with concerns and worries about life after law school. Beyond joining a firm, what options are out there for new grads? Banding together with a couple other recent grads or, scarier yet, hanging out my own shingle? The Denver Bar Association was trying to answer exactly this question when it unveiled Stratum, which offers meeting spaces, networking events, and just about every business amenity a lawyer could need.

A 93% satisfaction measure is not something you see every day. And, it is even more unusual in circumstances where people reporting such a high percentage account for both winners and losers, which is exactly why Chief Justice Matthew B. Durrant focused on this measure during his 2014 Utah State of the Judiciary Address. Chief Justice Durrants's explanation for the measure can be summed up in two words: procedural fairness.

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.

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.

Late last week, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit struck down a handful of provisions in Arizona's code of judicial conduct as they apply to the campaign behavior of judicial candidates. According to the court, "[t]o the extent states wish to avoid a politicized judiciary, they can choose to do so by not electing judges."

Speaker of the Senate and Lieutenant Governor Ron Ramsey, a Republican, is leading the charge against three supreme court justices standing for retention in August. (All appellate judges in Tennessee stand for retention at the same time every eight years, but two justices on the five-member court are retiring this summer.)

The Cook County Circuit Court in Illinois recently revised its rule in domestic relations mediation. The goal of the revision was to give the courts more flexibility in handling each case as effectively as possible and to give parties the choice to participate in an alternative dispute resolution process that best suits their needs.