Announcements

As many have recognized, electronic discovery has arrived in the state courts. While there are abundant resources available on the topic of e-discovery, for many judges the question is, “Where to begin?” To answer that question, IAALS now offers this new toolkit for state court judges, which pulls together some of the best resources available. Whether you are an expert or a novice with e-discovery issues, this collection of resources will be useful in your cases.

Educating Tomorrow's Lawyers announces its second annual conference, which will focus on connecting the profession and the academy to ensure that law graduates are prepared to begin a career of service to clients, service to the legal system, and service to society. Conference participants will focus on how to design and deliver a modern legal education that educates lawyers to the highest standards of competence and professionalism.

The new Resource Center for Separating and Divorcing Families at the University of Denver is open for business. Media buzz around the first-of-its-kind Center, based on the model developed by IAALS, continues to grow. Listen to the interview with Rebecca Love Kourlis and Melinda Taylor.

Part of what we do at IAALS is to convene people who have different viewpoints around a particular topic—in hopes that areas of consensus will emerge from the dialogue. We convened one such group last spring, comprised of ideologically and experientially diverse participants, on the subject of judicial selection and the attributes we want in our judges. Focused on a simple question, "What are the most important characteristics or qualities of a judge," there was remarkable unanimity around the room.

Effective July 1, 2013, two current IAALS managers stepped up to lead their respective divisions. Corina Gerety has assumed the role of Director of Research and Brittany Kauffman is now Director of the Rule One Initiative. The IAALS Research Department supports all substantive initiative areas as needed, providing a broad range of research assistance. The Rule One Initiative serves to advance empirically informed models for court processes and procedures that provide greater accessibility, efficiency, and accountability in the civil justice system.

IAALS is pleased to announce that it is welcoming a new Director of Communications and Marketing and a new Director of its national legal education initiative. Alli Gerkman took the helm as the first full-time director of Educating Tomorrow’s Lawyers in May. She joined IAALS in 2011 and has served as its Director of Communications since August 2012. Taking her place as Director of Communications and Marketing on July 29 is Robert Thompson, who comes to IAALS after many years of nonprofit service.

IAALS is pleased to welcome Barbara Blackwell as its Senior Development Director. In this role, Blackwell will be responsible for developing and implementing a strategic fundraising plan for IAALS’ short and long-term sustainability. Blackwell joins IAALS after a 25-year career in fundraising for nonprofits and higher education institutions.

Quality Judges has just released A Credit to the Courts: The Selection, Appointment, and Reappointment Process for Bankruptcy Judges. This study provides the first in-depth examination of the process for selecting U.S. bankruptcy judges, highlighting the similarities and differences among the regional circuits. Despite the number of cases processed in these high-volume courts, and their significance in the financial lives of individuals and businesses alike, very little was known about how the judges who preside over these courts come to be on the bench, until now.

You may have noticed a new voice in our Honoring Families blog posts. Natalie Knowlton has been with IAALS since 2006 and joined the staff full time in 2008, working first as a Research Analyst across initiatives and then as Manager of the Quality Judges Initiative. Now, she will make significant contributions to our Honoring Families Initiative as its Director.

This September, IAALS and the National Judicial College will host an educational summit exclusively tailored for state court judges on all facets of the discovery of electronically stored information (ESI)—from preservation to production to eventual use at trial. The Summit will feature nationally renowned speakers and will provide both a core of basic training for judges on e-discovery and in-depth and interactive discussions on the more complex issues facing judges in state courts across the nation.