Trial Magazine

On Saturday, July 7, the Pound Civil Justice Institute’s annual Forum for State Appellate Court Judges will offer judges from across the country a one-day complimentary judicial education program: “State Court Protection of Individual Constitutional Rights.”
Held in Denver during AAJ’s 2018 Annual Convention, the forum will host an interactive program and bring together nationally recognized legal scholars.

In recent years, citizens’ ability to litigate civil claims has been increasingly constrained as tort “reform” legislation, federal court procedural hurdles, and forced arbitration have become more prevalent. Today, state constitutional provisions may serve as the strongest protections available to individuals seeking recourse.

Discussion at the forum will focus on how legislative, judicial, and regulatory changes have restricted people who have been harmed from lawfully accessing the courts—and how state courts can use the powers granted by their state constitutions to protect and enforce litigants’ rights.

The forum will feature papers by leading experts on state constitutionalism; commentary from diverse panels of academics, judges, and practitioners; and small group discussions. Professor Robert Williams (Rutgers Law School) will present an academic paper on state constitutional provisions that protect civil litigation, and Professor Justin Long (Wayne State University Law School) will discuss the ways in which the structural aspects of state constitutional regimes can impact access to civil justice. Other speakers will include Justice Goodwin Liu of the Supreme Court of California and Justice Monica Márquez of the Colorado Supreme Court.

The forum is open only to judges, and registration is accepted on a first-come, first-served basis. More than 200 judges from 37 states have already asked to attend. For more information on Pound’s forums, including reports from the past 25 forums, visit http://poundinstitute.org/content/judges-forum.