Source: (2005) St. Thomas Law Review. 17: 403-406.
1
You may have noticed a subtle, though clearly discernible, change of climate in
the American legal system in recent years. An invigorating breeze has been blowing, and
has now gathered sufficient force to reshape the roles of judges, lawyers, and legal
educators, and through them the legal system as a whole. From my vantage point on the
bench of the supreme court of our nation’s fourth largest state, I see the fruits of this
new perspective in unified family courts that emphasize an integrated approach to
proceedings that involve children or families, in drug courts that promote treatment over
incarceration, in alternative dispute resolution that is an essential element of the
mediation programs in all of our trial courts, and in the more holistic approach being
taken in clinical programs provided in some of our law schools. I see further evidence of
profound change in attorneys who include in their criminal law practice a focus on client
rehabilitation, and in attorneys who understand the harm caused to children by a highconflict
divorce and so encourage practices in family law such as collaborative divorce.(excerpt)
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