Transparent Courthouse™ Quarterly

IAALS lays foundation to repair America's civil justice system

The New Year brings great excitement as IAALS enters its fourth year and hits the ground running on its most ambitious project to date - the 21st Century Rules Initiative (TCRI).

The Federal Rules of Civil Procedure (FRCP) were written more than 70 years ago and serve as a guide for the civil justice system, but they have not evolved to keep pace with the needs of new millennium Americans. IAALS is working to modernize the rules, so that they better serve our citizens.

As part of this initiative, IAALS partnered with the American College of Trial Lawyers (ACTL) Task Force on Discovery to create a set of recommendations that may form the foundation for discussion and implementation of new rules. A final report will be released in early March, so please visit our website, www.du.edu/legalinstitute, to download your copy.

Executive Director Rebecca Love Kourlis and ACTL Task Force Chairman Paul Saunders will make a presentation to the United States Judicial Conference Standing Committee on Rules of Practice and Procedure in mid-January to discuss these reforms.

IAALS will also host a gathering of distinguished attorneys, academics, business executives and judges in March to further discuss solutions to eliminate unnecessary cost and delay in our civil justice system.

Finally, IAALS is creating a new section of its website dedicated to TCRI. This sub-site will provide users with a unique single source of information on U.S. Rules of Civil Procedure and a myriad of related topics, so watch for the site launch this winter!

Transparent Courthouse™ Award honors pioneering Chief Justice

On October 22, IAALS hosted its second annual Transparent Courthouse™ Award dinner. Utah Supreme Court Chief Justice Christine Durham was honored before an audience of highly regarded judges, lawyers and business leaders for her achievement in building a more responsive and effective court system.

Chief Justice Durham is acclaimed for her pioneering leadership and strength as a chief executive. She was Utah's first woman district court judge, the first woman to serve on Utah's Supreme Court, and the first female Chief Justice. Under her leadership, Utah was one of the first to implement a state-mandated judicial education program.

In remarks to the audience, renowned New York Times Editorial Board Member Dorothy Samuels engaged the audience with the history of America's judicial selection debate and discussed the impact of partisan elections on justice.

IAALS unveils a new section of its website

IAALS has conducted significant research on judicial performance evaluation (JPE) programs nationwide. As one of the country's foremost experts on JPE, IAALS has become a go-to source of information for states interested in establishing or improving their JPE systems. To provide additional resources on this important issue, we have added a new section to our website that is dedicated entirely to JPE. Please click here to view it.

After reviewing nearly 8,000 federal cases, IAALS will release the findings of its monumental caseflow management study later this month.