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Rebecca Love Kourlis Founding Executive Director, IAALS I am sitting at the kitchen table at the ranch house, watching the sun rise. The sun is lighting the hills, one by one. It occurs to me—sappy or idealistic as it may seem—that a new day is …

Brittany Kauffman CEO We are excited to open registration for IAALS’ Fourth Civil Justice Reform Summit , which will be held in Denver, February 25-26, 2016. The Summit will feature nationally renowned faculty discussing the challenges of implementing …

Malia Reddick Former Manager, Quality Judges Initiative Colorado Senator Michael Bennet has announced the formation of a bipartisan screening committee to consider potential nominees for an upcoming vacancy on the state’s federal trial court. We at IAALS …

Hunter Metcalf IAALS Intern In a recent amicus brief to the Alaska Supreme Court, the American Bar Association (ABA) argues that the Alaskan Constitution requires appointment of counsel to an indigent parent in a child custody case when a private lawyer …

Rebecca Love Kourlis Founding Executive Director, IAALS The New York Times is running a series of articles on consumer-business arbitration (read them here , here , and here ). The writers observe that arbitration takes away transparency, due process, the …

Alli Gerkman Former Senior Director We kicked off the 4th Annual Educating Tomorrow’s Lawyers Conference with a story about math—or, more specifically, with a story about how long it took one mathematician to solve one not-so-simple problem. It’s a great …

Malia Reddick Former Manager, Quality Judges Initiative In response to record-breaking judicial election spending, and an unprecedented series of scandals involving supreme court justices, reform-minded folks in Pennsylvania are making historic strides …

Hunter Metcalf IAALS Intern Multiple states have recently amended their divorce laws in order to expedite the process and facilitate better, more cooperative outcomes for couples parting ways. While none of the reforms contain drastic or sweeping change, …

Zachary Willis Director of Communications The number of people representing themselves in court is on the rise, especially in family court. Some people feel they can handle the legal process on their own, or don't trust a lawyer to make things better. And …

Rebecca Love Kourlis Founding Executive Director, IAALS For the last ten years, IAALS—the Institute for the Advancement of the American Legal System—has worked to rebuild the civil justice system. After much work, and through collaboration with some of …

Rebecca Love Kourlis Founding Executive Director, IAALS Judges are the linchpin of the court system—the piece that that holds the wheels on. When a judge is engaged, attentive, and dedicated to assuring that each litigant gets the best the system can …

Zachary Willis Director of Communications Nearly 110 years ago, Roscoe Pound proclaimed: “Dissatisfaction with the administration of justice is as old as the law itself.” In 2015, that sentiment endures and is echoed in the mounting call for real, …

Zachary Willis Director of Communications Hunter Metcalf IAALS Intern How do you talk to children about divorce? And, do we realize just how far the effects of divorce can reach? In a  recent article for Psychology Today, Splitopia author Wendy Paris …

Malia Reddick Former Manager, Quality Judges Initiative According to a new study by Reuters , in states where supreme court justices are elected and reelected by the voters, justices uphold death sentences more often than their counterparts in states …

Hunter Metcalf IAALS Intern Do you trust the judiciary? If you thought “yes,” then you may be in a shrinking crowd. Judge Kevin S. Burke, Hennepin County district judge and IAALS board member, begins a recent article with candor – Public trust in the …

Hunter Metcalf IAALS Intern Congratulations to IAALS Board of Advisors member Sheila Slocum Hollis on her appointment as the new Chair of the ABA Standing Committee on the Law Library of Congress. The Standing Committee on the Law Library of Congress …

Zachary Willis Director of Communications Hunter Metcalf IAALS Intern It’s that time again! We’re incredibly excited to share the first results of our Foundations for Practice project and help build on what we’ve learned at this year’s Educating …

Rebecca Love Kourlis Founding Executive Director, IAALS This summer, the legal community lost a giant: Don Scott. Don was a Harvard undergraduate and Yale law graduate whose practice began and grew under the aegis of Kirkland and Ellis. In 1993, Don, Fred …

Malia Reddick Former Manager, Quality Judges Initiative With the leadership of Chief Justice Maureen O’Connor, a coalition of groups in Ohio has launched a new website— Judicial Votes Count —to better educate voters in judicial elections. The site offers …

Hunter Metcalf IAALS Intern “Complicated,” “costly,” and “unobtainable” are words that Pope Francis wishes to eliminate from the common description of marriage annulments within the Catholic Church. The pope has issued a new law that sets out a number of …