The Foundation of the IADC seeks to have a significant impact on the civil justice system. It works to serve as a platform for educating the public and the legal community on current litigation issues and supporting the integrity of the legal system throughout the world. With the support of individual member, law firm, and corporate donations, The Foundation of the IADC continues to develop new projects and initiatives to advance the legal system.
In recent years, The Foundation launched
The Joan Fullam Irick Privacy Project, a three-volume assessment of current legal issues related to privacy. It supported the highly useful
Practical Guide for Insurance Defense Lawyers. The Foundation has been able to increase funds supporting the Gary Walker Memorial Scholarship for a deserving Trial Academy student. It sponsors highly respected speakers for the annual Foundation Forum, including our 2010 speaker, Honorable Sandra Day O'Connor, Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States (Ret.).
Please make a contribution today and help The Foundation support the advancement of the civil justice system.
Announcements
Touting iCivics in North Dakota
IADC member, Paul Ebeltoft and his wife, Gail, have teamed to get the iCivics “word” to teachers and future educators in North Dakota using tried and true and innovative ways of promoting the iCivics curriculum.
Starting last fall, Gail, who works in a university setting, partnered with an Assistant Professor of Education in the University’s Department of Teacher Education to bring iCivics to the teacher education program. The professor integrated it into her classroom as an example of how a fully prepared, standards compliant curriculum can assist these students become more effective in their careers in elementary education. The web-based iCivics program was immediately popular and the benefit for pre-service and newly hired teachers immediately apparent.
In October, experienced history, government, and social studies teachers from across the state were introduced to iCivics as a part of the North Dakota Justices Teaching Institute, facilitated by Chief Justice Gerald W. Vandewalle, who Paul asked to be State iCivics Chair. Many participants took the iCivics curriculum straight to their classrooms.
In January, partnering with her regional teachers’ university, Gail brought iCivics to Practically Speaking, an in-service training day for both experienced and pre-service educators. iCivics was demonstrated by three middle-school children. The enthusiasm for the iCivics games shown by these youngsters sold the attendees on the value of the program. Incidentally, these three middle-school children have rationed computer time at home. They each chose to spend their valuable screen-time to play iCivics games.
This is just the beginning. Gail has begun working with the North Dakota Humanities Council, which is committed to increasing civics education in the state. The Council is interested in iCivics as a powerful tool to leverage knowledge of public humanities. A contact has also been made with the statewide Prairie Public Broadcasting system. Paul, a member of its board, has asked that it use iCivics as a part of its missions to provide professional development, trusted resources and high quality education to children in the state.
With all this happening, we are expecting to hear more good news about iCivics from North Dakota.
States Best Practices Survey Results Published
The Foundation of the IADC, under the direction of Foundation Board member Tammy White of Farrell, White & Legg and with the assistance of members across the country, has prepared a “State Best Practices Survey” which provides current state-by-state information concerning major areas of civil practice from discovery to trial. The Survey includes commentary concerning local practices and the application of those rules and statutes.
To access the survey, click here.
The Foundation Offers Two Trial Academy Scholarship for 2012
The Foundation of the IADC is pleased to offer two scholarships for deserving lawyers to attend the 40th Annual Trial Academy. For more information and to apply, click here.
Wendy May Spreads iCivics Across the Lone Star State
Texas iCivics coordinator and IADC member, Wendy D. May, and her colleagues Joy R. Tull and Aaron J. Burke of Hartline Dacus Barger Dreyer, LLP, have been working hard to promote iCivics in the Lone Star State. In 2011, after just one year of the team’s efforts, Texas students visited the iCivics website more than 152,000 times, an increase of 240% over 2010. To reach this level of iCivics awareness, the Texas team has been traveling across the state to visit directly with Social Studies teachers at various schools and has given keynote speeches and break-out sessions on iCivics at all major Social Studies teacher conferences throughout the state.
In April, the iCivics team organized a major Central Texas kickoff with a series of events in Austin, Texas. Hartline Dacus Barger Dreyer, LLP and Baylor Law School hosted a dinner with an iCivics unveiling for state legislators, the governor’s office, state level education authorities and local business leaders and educators. Justice Sandra Day O’Connor, Baylor University President, the Honorable Ken Star, and Texas Supreme Court Chief Justice Wallace B. Jefferson all participated in this iCivics presentation. While in Austin, Justice O’Connor and the iCivics team also presented iCivics to the Advanced Micro Devices Company at its Game On! 2011 Symposium for educational game development. Wendy and her team also coordinated two iCivics events for Austin area students, including one presentation by Justice O’Connor and Chief Justice Jefferson at the Fulmore Law Magnet Middle School, covered by local news stations.
In October, the iCivics team organized another large scale publicity event for South Texas. Justice O’Connor presented the iCivics vision to South Texas educators, city officials and business leaders at a dinner in San Antonio sponsored by business man and former San Antonio Spurs owner, Red McCombs. Local media and an internet news site covered the event, as well as the next day presentation to a large gathering of Social Studies pre-service teachers and administrators from four area universities. These events helped raise more than $250,000.00 for iCivics.
Wendy’s alma mater, Baylor University, has agreed to sponsor an in-depth research study on the effectiveness and impact of the iCivics gaming approach and curriculum. Moreover, Baylor’s School of Education and Law School are partnering to create a repeatable model for utilizing a university’s geographic influence and iCivics to bring large scale civics education reform. As part of this program, Baylor Law School Students and Baylor pre-service teachers are partnering as local school mentors to bring iCivics into all Central Texas middle schools. Baylor is helping iCivics publicize this partnership model for other Texas universities and eventually the rest of the nation.
iCivics (www.icivics.org) is a Web-based education project designed to teach students civics and inspire them to be active participants in U.S. democracy. Formerly called Our Courts, iCivics was founded by Justice Sandra Day O’Connor, and she noted at an iCivics meeting held at the 2011 Midyear Meeting that she considers it one of her greatest accomplishments.
When The Foundation of the IADC got involved, then Our Courts was just in a handful of states and had a couple of games on the court system. Now, there are State Coordinators in every state and iCivics has games on topics such as citizenship and participation, the Constitution and Bill of Rights, separation of powers, the Executive Branch, the Legislative Branch, and the Judicial Branch. The site also has grown to include a repository of resources for teachers to make it as easy as possible for them to include civics in their lesson plans.