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Message from Our Executive Director |
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Judge Neil Gorsuch’s testimony before the Senate Judiciary Committee hearing underscored the difference between elected officials and judges. He repeatedly declined to answer questions about his personal views, because his personal views are not relevant to the job of judging. As national attention is focused on Judge Gorsuch and the courts, we want to applaud him for his dignity, his grace, and his judicial independence. May we all enjoy a deeper understanding of the gulf between a judge and an elected official—between a representative of the people’s interests and an adjudicator of equal justice.
Rebecca Love Kourlis, IAALS Executive Director
April 2017
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State Legislatures Considering Range of Measures to Limit Judicial Independence
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The President is not the only one who has taken on the courts recently: it is also happening in state legislatures around the country. This comes as no surprise to state court watchers; in fact, legislation targeting state courts for unpopular decisions is now commonplace.
Some of these legislative proposals seek to limit judicial authority directly. Proposals in other states target processes for selecting and retaining judges, with many seeking to make these processes more political and less focused on judicial qualifications. While not all these proposals will become law, the question is what we can do to address apparently deep-seated concerns and misunderstandings about the role of the courts in our tri-partite system of government.
Read more.
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IAALS and COCD Recognized by the ABA for Improving
Legal Access
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The Center for Out-of-Court Divorce (COCD), together with IAALS at the University of Denver, has received Meritorious Recognition from the ABA Standing Committee on the Delivery of Legal Services in connection with its annual Louis M. Brown Award for Legal Access.
COCD and IAALS were recognized for our work in partnership with the legal system, our leveraging of interdisciplinary services, and our empowerment of parents going through a divorce to work together toward positive outcomes for their children. We are honored to join the ranks of the esteemed organizations that have been recognized.
Read more.
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Not to be Overshadowed
by Discovery:
The Cost and Delay of Motions
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The last ten years has seen an intense and almost singular focus on discovery, and IAALS was recently featured in a
Colorado Super Lawyers article regarding the vanishing jury trial and how discovery is at the heart of the issue. However, there is another important aspect to the pretrial system that also results in great cost and delay—motions.
We are working on a summary judgment docket study to provide empirical research to inform recommendations in this arena. Additionally, the ABA Section of Litigation has created a “Roadshow 2.0,” which extends the success of their prior roadshow on the 2015 Federal Rules Amendments and efficient discovery to the area of motions.
Read more.
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Experience Matters:
Law Schools Provide It;
Now We Need to Assess It
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James Moliterno, Vincent Bradford Professor of Law at Washington and Lee University School of Law, wrote a guest blog for IAALS after being inspired by our most recent Foundations for Practice report,
Hiring the Whole Lawyer: Experience Matters. He suggests that law schools develop new ways of assessing students to help employers see beyond GPA and traditional hiring criteria:
“Experience Matters. We are indeed providing amazing experiences for our students through the combination of clinics, externships, and simulations. Now the task is to communicate their achievement levels in ways that employers can use as easily as they now use the status quo markers.”
Read more.
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The Stage is Set: IAALS 2016 Annual Report
We are so proud to present our 2016 Annual Report, capturing a remarkable year in our existence and representing the work of our truly visionary staff. Read the report here. |
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