Judicial Scandals May Propel Selection Reform in Pennsylvania

News and Updates
As Pennsylvanians for Modern Courts, a longtime advocate of judicial selection reform, celebrates its 25th year, supporters of moving from partisan elections to commission-based appointment of the state's appellate judges are optimistic that the… MORE

Civil Justice Reform Is on the March

News and Updates
IAALS is honored to be featured front and center in the Fall 2013 edition of The Bulletin, a publication of the American College of Trial Lawyers (ACTL). The article chronicles the six year journey of collaboration, cooperation, and determination… MORE

Prominent Solo Identifies Six Competencies for Entry-Level Lawyers in 21st Century

News and Updates
Much of the work on core competencies for entry-level lawyers has focused on large firms, often because it has been harder to collect this information from small firms. This is a challenge because small and medium firms continue to be major… MORE

Haslam Creates Judicial Nominating Commission by Executive Order

News and Updates
Over the summer, the Tennessee legislature declined to renew the state's judicial nominating commission, which was used to recommend well-qualified candidates for appellate judgeships to the governor. Instead, lawmakers chose to let Tennesseans… MORE

The Bench and Bar's Responsibility in the Development of Entry-Level Lawyers

News and Updates
One of my primary responsibilities as Counsel to the Chief Justice of the Colorado Supreme Court is to start and maintain dialogue among Colorado's law schools, bench, and bar in an effort to find and promote commonality among their efforts to… MORE

A Nationwide Look at Short, Summary, and Expedited Trial Programs—And Implementation Strategies

News and Updates
In response to increasing pressures on the civil justice system, both at the state and federal level, many jurisdictions around the country have implemented an alternative process that is designed to provide speedy and less expensive access to civil… MORE

New Analysis Finds Correlation Between Contributions and Decisions in Wisconsin

News and Updates
According to a new analysis conducted by the Wisconsin Center for Investigative Journalism, justices on Wisconsin's high court tend to favor parties whose attorneys contributed to their election campaigns. With respect to campaign donations made… MORE

Governor Scott Actively Exercises Prerogative to Shape Florida's Nominating Commissions

News and Updates
Florida is one of eight states with a commission-based judicial appointment process wherein the governor appoints all members of the nominating commissions. In Florida, as in Arizona, Delaware, and Utah, some of the governor's appointees come from… MORE

Recipe for Rules Change Success: An Update on Colorado's Pilot Project Evaluation

News and Updates
IAALS follows a four-step framework for continuous improvement of the American civil justice system. Within our Rule One Initiative, we gather research on existing court processes, convene stakeholder groups to develop recommended models aimed at… MORE

New Poll Shows that Voters Have Increasing Concerns about Judicial Impartiality

News and Updates
According to a new poll commissioned by Justice at Stake and the Brennan Center for Justice, nearly nine in ten voters (87 percent) believe that judicial campaign support—whether in the form of direct contributions or independent spending—influences… MORE