Events

It is hard to believe it has been seven months since our 4th Annual Educating Tomorrow’s Lawyers Conference last fall, where we presented initial results from our Foundations for Practice survey. Since that gathering, we have heard from countless legal educators who are embarking on the process to define and measure learning outcomes—and who are using Foundations for Practice to inform that process.

Last week, IAALS held our annual Rebuilding Justice Award Dinner in celebration of our 10th Anniversary and the remarkable progress we've made as a national force for legal reform. Our work is not accomplished alone, which is why we honored both past awardees and current partners for their dedication and their innovation.

On April 21, 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 individuals who exemplify the spirit of innovation and leadership that IAALS champions across all of our work toward building a legal system that is fair, accessible, reliable, efficient, and accountable.

Honoring Families recently convened a diverse cross-section of the national family law bar, with the goal of identifying and discussing improvements to the system that would allow all practitioners to better serve clients and children. The Family Bar Summit: Shaping the System for the Families We Serve challenged participants to shed preconceived notions about the system and engage in forward-thinking discussion on various aspects of the family justice system.

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 change and engaging in a dialogue with participants regarding the necessary next steps for creating the just, speedy, and inexpensive courts of tomorrow.

This month, IAALS will convene a group of plaintiffs’ attorneys from Colorado and around the country to discuss the present and future impact of civil justice reform in the United States. We look to others for input on how best to implement the upcoming changes and what culture shifts are necessary to achieve the intended positive impact, and have held a number of convenings this spring to gather input.

On February 25-26, 2016, IAALS will hold its Fourth Civil Justice Reform Summit: Creating the Just, Speedy, and Inexpensive Courts of Tomorrow. The Summit will provide an opportunity to discuss the challenges of implementing change and chart the next steps for creating the just, speedy, and inexpensive courts of tomorrow.

This month, IAALS will hold its annual Rebuilding Justice Award Dinner and honor the members of the American College of Trial Lawyers Task Force on Discovery and Civil Justice. The Task Force began its work with IAALS in 2008, with goal of generating a nationwide discussion about the state of our civil justice system and promoting active consideration of proposed changes to make the system more accessible, affordable, efficient, and just.

Discovery in litigation can be complicated and expensive, and electronic discovery is no exception. The preservation and production of electronically stored information presents ample opportunities for complication and expense. To provide education for judges tackling these issues, IAALS and the National Judicial College will co-host a webcast on February 18, 2015, at no cost for state court judges.

In November, IAALS convened a group of senior in-house counsel and corporate management from around the country to discuss discovery and the challenges of preservation and production. The convening focused on the proposed federal amendments to Rule 37(e) and the realities companies face on a daily basis, providing an opportunity for attendees to talk to their peers about current practices, challenges, and solutions, for both small and large companies.