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Brittany Kauffman CEO 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, …

Robert P. Thompson Former Director of Communications & Marketing 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 …

Malia Reddick Former Manager, Quality Judges Initiative 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 …

Hunter Metcalf IAALS Intern 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  …

Brittany Kauffman CEO 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 …

Hunter Metcalf IAALS Intern In a  recent paper , Professors Chew and Pryal, University of North Carolina School of Law, identified areas where legal employers’ expectations concerning law students and recent graduates diverge. Through an anonymous survey …

Brittany Kauffman CEO 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 …

Natalie Anne Knowlton Advisor on Regulatory Innovation 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. …

Hunter Metcalf IAALS Intern 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 …

Zachary Willis Director of Communications Denver, Colo. – In 2009, national media outlets—and the legal profession—were abuzz with talk of concrete, reasoned, and achievable recommendations for making the American civil justice system less time consuming …

Malia Reddick Former Manager, Quality Judges Initiative On April 7, 53 percent 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 …

Rebecca Love Kourlis Founding Executive Director, IAALS IAALS is committed to advancing excellence in the American legal system. Over the last eight years, our impacts have been felt across the country. A critical component of our success lies in our …

Natalie Anne Knowlton Advisor on Regulatory Innovation Hunter Metcalf IAALS Intern 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 …

Brittany Kauffman CEO 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 …

Hunter Metcalf IAALS Intern 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 …

Zachary Willis Director of Communications Hunter Metcalf IAALS Intern This month, IAALS—the Institute for the Advancement of the American Legal System at the University of Denver—will hold its annual Rebuilding Justice Award Dinner . The award recognizes …

Malia Reddick Former Manager, Quality Judges Initiative The West Virginia legislature has passed, and the governor has signed, a bill that makes elections for the state's judges nonpartisan. West Virginia's judicial elections attracted the national …

Brittany Kauffman CEO The Texas Lawyer recently reported on Texas' downward trend in civil lawsuits, which have dropped 17 percent over the last 10 years. When separated out, this trend is even more striking in county-level courts, which have seen a 36 …

Hunter Metcalf IAALS Intern 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 …

Hunter Metcalf IAALS Intern In a recent blog post, Richard Zorza shares some thoughts on improving services for self-represented litigants in the United States. Zorza, coordinator of the national Self Represented Litigation Network (SRLN), believes that …