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Message from Our Executive Director |
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October promises to be a busy month for IAALS. This week we are holding the 6th Annual Educating Tomorrow’s Lawyers Conference in downtown Denver. And at the end of the month, we are co-hosting the Better Access through Unbundling conference with the ABA here at DU. In the meantime, we will be rolling out a new project that will help lawyers better understand what their clients value in legal representation—and we are entering a new and exciting phase of our Court Compass project that we cannot wait to share with you. All of these projects and convenings have court users and clients at their heart—as does all of our work—because our legal system must work for all people.
Rebecca Love Kourlis, IAALS Executive Director
October 2017
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Partner Profile: The Brookings Institution’s Russell Wheeler
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IAALS simply would not be what it is without the support of our partners and friends. This month, we profile Russell Wheeler, President of the Governance Institute and Visiting Fellow of the Brookings Institution.
Russell has been with IAALS from the first moment. He is our secret weapon—our empirical conscience. Russell has spent countless hours reviewing and editing our work, in order to siphon out bias and to tether our recommendations to the data. He is a dedicated and tireless proponent of excellence and attention to detail and a treasured friend to IAALS.
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ETL Director Alli Gerkman Raising the Bar with CWBA Foundation Award
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Last month,
Educating Tomorrow’s Lawyers Director Alli Gerkman was honored at the 12th Annual Raising the Bar Dinner hosted by the Colorado Women’s Bar Association Foundation. Each year, the CWBA Foundation honors women lawyers “who have made a difference in our communities and have ‘raised the bar’ for all of us.” With over 400 people in attendance, Alli was honored along with four other women attorneys for their work to raise the bar through reform or innovation “that has significant systemic impact.”
“We at IAALS are so proud of Alli and of her work,” said IAALS Executive Director Rebecca Love Kourlis. “She is an extraordinary leader who is raising the bar for systemic innovation not only regionally but nationally.”
Read more.
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Arizona Supreme Court Approves Civil Justice Reforms
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Arizona’s Supreme Court has approved numerous civil justice reforms “aimed at reducing the time and expense it takes to resolve civil cases in Arizona’s superior courts.” The reforms are based on the recommendations of Arizona’s Civil Justice Reform Committee, which was tasked with developing recommendations to reduce the cost and time required to resolve civil cases.
The Arizona Supreme Court has now reviewed those recommendations and issued a series of rule changes, which will take effect July 1, 2018. Some of the highlights include:
- Case tiers to right-size discovery and the pre-trial process to better fit the needs of cases
- Expedited procedures for resolving discovery disputes
- Rule revisions regarding preservation, disclosure, and the discovery of electronically stored information
- Rule changes to provide more protection against unduly burdensome non-party subpoenas
Read more.
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Judge Posner, Self-Represented Litigants, and Changing Our Legal System
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By now, the word is out that Judge Richard A. Posner is retiring from the 7th Circuit Court of Appeals, citing “difficulty” with his colleagues on the bench over the treatment of self-represented litigants as the motivation for leaving.
Judge Posner’s point, though, is more indicative of the entire justice system than a particular court and its staff attorneys. Today, it is safer to assume that parties will not have lawyers and for courts and legal professionals to proceed with system reforms accordingly. Innovators continue to seek new ways to disrupt the status quo of the legal system, and many have successfully made inroads, but until courts and legal professionals join the charge, there will continue to be crowded dockets, challenges managing caseloads, and hurdles to effectively and efficiently provide services to all court consumers, leaving many disenfranchised or shut out of the legal system.
Read more.
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Proposal to Constitutionalize Judicial Nominating Commissions in Florida
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In July, the nonprofit organization Progress Florida sent a letter to the Florida Constitution Revision Commission outlining proposed revisions to the state's constitution. The revisions add rules for judicial nominating commissions, such as limitations on membership and provisions ensuring impartiality. The Commission meets every 20 years, per the state's constitution, to review and recommend constitutional changes to be put on the ballot for voters to decide.
Many of IAALS’ principles can be seen throughout the proposed revisions, as outlined in our
Goals and Principles for Judicial Nominating Commissions publication.
IAALS applauds the recommendations and suggests that they would do much to cement the long-term trustworthiness and impartiality of the Commissions.
Read more.
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Experiential Learning a Top Factor for Law School Applicants
The results of three-year study of students at the University of Denver Sturm College of Law were recently published in an article titled, "If You Build it, They Will Come: What Students Say About Experiential Learning." Read more.
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When something is valuable, you want to handle it with care, to preserve it so that it lasts. That same instinct drives our supporters to invest in the future of IAALS. If our mission is meaningful to you and you share our vision of a legal system that works for all people by being accessible, fair, reliable, efficient, and accountable, here are three easy options to make a significant gift with ease:
- Include IAALS in your will or living trust
- Name us as a beneficiary of a retirement account
- Designate us as a beneficiary of a life insurance policy
For information, please contact: Carol J. Miller, Director of Strategic Partnerships
303-871-6613; c: 720-635-9991; carol.miller@du.edu
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