Publications

While electronic discovery continues to pose challenges for the civil justice system, the judge who understands e-discovery may be uniquely positioned to guide the litigation in a way that works better for all litigants—and for the court itself. In this Second Edition, IAALS provides an updated manual for state court judges and anyone who needs a basic resource on e-discovery.

This study assesses whether, as some claim, there is empirical evidence that women and minority judges are evaluated less favorably than their Caucasian male colleagues. We consider whether these differences are the result of implicit biases, and we offer recommendations for minimizing the potential that such biases may come into play.

This publication couples the desired attributes for court systems and individual judges identified by participants in the IAALS Roundtable on Judicial Selection with principles (or “cornerstones”) for judicial selection processes that are most likely to produce court systems and judges with these attributes.

In response to the need for an impartial, efficient, and meaningful method for evaluating appellate opinions as part of the JPE process, IAALS developed this report containing broad recommendations, and model criteria and questionnaires.

IAALS developed a set of goals to pursue and principles to follow in the selection, composition, and operation of judicial nominating commissions. Rather than constituting a “one size fits all” prescription, these goals and principles offer a framework within which to establish a commission-based gubernatorial appointment process tailored to individual states.

IAALS administered a survey of appellate judges and justices in eight of the eleven states that have official appellate JPE processes. Drawing from these survey results, conference materials, and participant dialogue, this post-conference report discusses the various approaches currently in place for evaluating appellate judges and justices, and identifies themes, recommendations, and areas for future work in appellate JPE.

Authors Rebecca Love Kourlis and Dirk Olin tell the story of a civil justice system that has become alarmingly expensive, politicized, and time-consuming, degrading it to the point that it no longer meets the legitimate needs of the people it was created to serve.

This report describes the committees in place and their significant variations in membership, appointment process, and, to the degree possible, operations. It suggests why senators and their staffs might consider using a committee, outlines decisions they might face in structuring and appointing a committee, and identifies issues they and committee members might encounter in operating a committee.

This publication synthesizes the results of four recent studies exploring how attorneys and trial judges across the nation view the civil justice system. Survey respondents overwhelmingly agreed that cost is a concern; delay increases cost; and discovery is responsible for unnecessary cost and delay. Respondents also embraced the need for creative solutions and experimentation.

In this keynote address, IAALS Executive Director Rebecca Love Kourlis describes the ambivalence to skyrocketing costs, unprofessional gamesmanship, and long delays in civil litigation a decade ago, and the legal profession's cynicism about our inability to alter any of those factors. However, all that has changed.

This survey asked state and federal judges questions about the civil legal system, and in particular, some of the civil process reforms advanced by IAALS and the American College of Trial Lawyers Task Force on Discovery and Civil Justice.

Colorado’s voluntary simplified pretrial procedure for actions seeking $100,000 or less from any one party was set up to reduce the time to disposition and reduce costs for litigants. But our survey shows use of the rules is relatively infrequent and not widely promoted by responding attorneys and judges.

The final installment of a three-part series that gives courts willing to try pilot projects a means for empirical evaluation of civil rules reforms and how they should be measured.

Those who are involved in the civil jury process know first-hand of the genius and value of trial by jury. To preserve and restore the civil jury trial, we must make the pretrial process faster, cheaper, and more user-friendly. The focus of this article will be to highlight a pilot project proposal under development in Colorado to do just that.

This report sets forth the results of our civil litigation survey of Chief Legal Officers and General Counsel belonging to the Association of Corporate Counsel.

Pleadings are the gateway to the American civil justice system. Parties must be able to afford to stay in the system long enough to narrow their disputed issues and collect relevant evidence for presentation to a judge or jury.

This survey explored the views of members of the State Bar of Arizona concerning civil procedure in Arizona Superior Court, the state court of general jurisdiction. This survey was developed to examine the practical impact of rules changes in 1992, and to contribute additional information to the dialogue on civil process reform.

This publication provides an overview of the collaboration between IAALS and the ACTL Task Force on Discovery and Civil Justice. It also offers clarification and context for research and recommendations that have generated significant discussion nationwide.

This report represents the third stage of an extended IAALS study of civil litigation in Oregon. The first two stages examined civil case processing in the U.S. District Court for the District of Oregon, and perceptions of the Oregon bench and bar about the state’s civil justice system. This report includes analysis of state and federal dockets in the same county. 

This survey explored the views of members of the Oregon State Bar concerning civil procedure in Circuit Court, the state court of general jurisdiction. This survey provides wisdom from a jurisdiction where some of the federal rules were never put in place.