News & Updates

A senate panel approved a bill that would expand the state’s seven-member judicial nominating commission, adding two commissioners who would be appointed by the leaders of each chamber. Currently, the judicial conference appoints two trial court judges, the state bar president appoints three lawyers, and the governor appoints two non-lawyers to serve on the commission.

The Minnesota Supreme Court has adopted amendments to its Rules of Civil Procedure and General Rules of Practice that are aimed at “facilitating more cost effective and efficient civil case processing.” The amendments, which take effect July 1, 2013, adopt many of the recommendations of the Civil Justice Reform Task Force.

Only three of twelve Republicans on the senate judiciary committee voted with their Democratic colleagues to advance New York Governor Andrew Cuomo's recent nominee to the state court of appeals, but they did so "without recommendation." Some critics of CUNY law professor Jenny Rivera question the breadth of her legal experience.

Two Republican lawmakers proposed a bill that would make judicial elections partisan again. Democrats led the charge to make them nonpartisan a decade ago, but at least in the 2012 appellate court elections, the party affiliation of the candidates was clear.

The Civil Rules Advisory Committee has proposed amendments to the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure to address proportionality, preservation, and spoliation problems associated with today's swiftly evolving technology. Robert D. Owen outlines the events leading to the current amendments (including IAALS’ and the ACTL Task Force on Discovery’s 2009 Final Report), the extensive work of the Committee over the last several years, and the specific rule changes under consideration.

In E-Discovery: The Views from the Trenches, the National Law Journal surveyed litigators and vendors to get their perspectives on the top developments in e-discovery over the past year. A top response—predictive coding. But proportionality made a showing as well.

As state legislatures around the country kick off their 2013 sessions, lawmakers in at least four states—Kansas, Minnesota, Pennsylvania, and Tennessee—are poised to make changes to the process for selecting their states’ judges.

A new poll—this one commissioned by the Kansas Policy Institute—shows that Kansans see no need to change the process for selecting the state’s appellate judges. According to the recent poll, 54 percent of Kansans believe it is “in citizens’ best interests to have judges recommended for appointment to the Kansas Supreme Court and the Court of Appeals by a majority-attorney panel,” while 39 percent disagree.

Educating Tomorrow’s Lawyers Advisory Committee member Paul Lippe is speaking to the “Deans Workshop for ABA Approved Schools” on February 15. In a post at The New Normal, he asked “How would you shape the law school experience for the next generation?” He has 44 responses and counting.

Once again, law schools have found themselves the subject of a New York Times front-page article about the sharp decline in law school applications. According to the article, law schools are responding by cutting faculty, taking a closer look at affordability, and adding clinics and in-the-field training. But perhaps more interesting is the story the article doesn’t tell—the story of law schools across the country that are already in front of this wave by offering students a better education.

Two Colorado attorneys discuss the utility of Colorado’s simplified civil procedure rule (C.R.C.P. 16.1) in the Point/Counterpoint section of The Colorado Lawyer’s February edition. One of the authors mentions IAALS’ comprehensive study of Rule 16.1, although our report had not yet been released at the time of the article deadline.

Today, numerous pilot projects are in various stages of consideration and implementation around the country, with proportionality in discovery a key theme among projects. In his recent article “Proportionality: The key to reducing corporation e-discovery costs,” Philip Favro recognizes this common theme and notes that “several circuit and district courts have recently championed proportionality as a benchmark for decreasing e-discovery costs.”

The Delaware Court of Chancery has amended its Rules regarding discovery, effective January 1, 2013, to "account for modern discovery demands" and to bring the Court’s rules in line with "current practice." The Court has also expanded its Guidelines To Help Practitioners In The Court of Chancery to include guidelines regarding discovery.

An informal Senate agreement on the rules of filibusters has the potential to accelerate confirmations of federal district court judges. The agreement reduces the amount of time required to overcome a filibuster and force a vote.

The Western District of Washington has amended its Local Civil Rules, which include their express purpose of promoting “the just, efficient, speedy, and economical determination of every action and proceeding.” Local Rule 26(f) states that the proportionality standard set forth in Fed. R. Civ. P. 26(b)(2)(C) “must be applied in every case when parties formulate a discovery plan and promulgate discovery requests.”

On the same day that jury selection began in the trial of a supreme court justice charged with illegal campaign practices, a Pennsylvania legislator introduced a measure that would end partisan elections for appellate judges.

This week the judiciary committee in both the house of representatives and the senate approved measures that would alter the process for choosing the state’s appellate judges. The proposed constitutional amendment would eliminate the judicial nominating commission and require senate confirmation of appointments.

Professors JoNel Newman and Melissa Swain teach a unique clinic at the University of Miami Law School that integrates legal, medical, and social work to help students learn better patient/client advocacy skills. Students from both the law school and medical school are cross-trained in each other’s disciplines, bringing the two professions together through real and mock situations and simulating the realities outside the classroom.

The Denver Post reports that the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee will hear Raymond Moore's nomination today for the U.S. District Court for the District of Colorado. The slow pace of the judicial nomination and confirmation process, normally bogged down by partisanship, may have relented for Moore, who will be considered in the first group of confirmation hearings.

Richard H. Middleton, Jr. is the owner and senior trial attorney in The Middleton Firm, LLC, based in Savannah, Georgia. Middleton joins the Advisory Committee to Educating Tomorrow's Lawyers with more than 30 years in mass tort and class action practice. Middleton will partner with an experienced Advisory Committee comprised of a wide variety of stakeholders with unique perspectives on the skills and knowledge necessary for the evolving legal profession.