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

ETL Collaborations Help Lead the Way in Improving Legal Education

News and Updates
In a recent article for The Recorder, Rachel Van Cleave, dean of Golden Gate University School of Law, an Educating Tomorrow's Lawyers (ETL) Consortium School, champions the efforts of ETL and its collaborative approach to changing… MORE

Colorado's Judge Carparelli to Lead American Judicature Society

News and Updates
IAALS is thrilled by the news that Judge Russell Carparelli of the Colorado Court of Appeals will take the helm at the American Judicature Society (AJS) as of January 1, 2014. New leadership of AJS is one of the changes that is accompanying the… MORE

Evaluating Our Appellate Judges: Reviewing Performance and Informing Voters

News and Updates
Appellate judges in 38 states stand for election. One state is holding judicial elections in November, and many more will do so in 2014. But how much do we know about our appellate judges? Are they fair? Do the lawyers who appear before them respect… MORE