National Association for Presiding Judges and Court Executive Officers

Existing Guides to Operations and Legal Issues during a Pandemic Useful Tools for Trial Court Leaders

Through an SJI grant, a Pandemic and Emergency Response Task Force was created in December 2014, to help courts better prepare for the complex legal issues that public health crises present. Two years later, a report and guide by the National Center for State Courts entitled “Preparing for a Pandemic: An Emergency Response Benchbook and Operations Guidebook for State Judges and Court Administrators” was published.

Training for nonlawyers to provide legal advice will start in Arizona in the fall

The University of Arizona James E. Rogers College of Law has started a two-year pilot project that licenses a small group of nonlawyers to give limited legal advice on civil matters stemming from domestic violence. The individuals will be known as licensed legal advocates and trained to provide legal advice on topics including protective orders, divorce, child custody, consumer protection and housing, according to a Monday news release.

Online courts, the future of justice and being bold in 2020

Ari Kaplan recently spoke with Richard Susskind, who has worked on technology for lawyers since 1981. Susskind is the author of a newly released book, Online Courts and the Future of Justice, among many others, including The End of Lawyers? and The Future of the Professions. Susskind is also a speaker and independent advisor to major professional firms and national governments. He was the keynote speaker at the National Center for State Courts’ 2019 Court Technology Conference in New Orleans. His main area of expertise is the future of professional legal services and, in particular, the way in which IT and the internet are changing the work of lawyers.

NAPCO Trial Court Leadership Guides Launched

The NAPCO Board of Directors, meeting in Minneapolis in August 2019, authorized the development of a series of briefing papers for presiding judges, court executives and court leadership teams that review and capsulize each day-long, interactive Leadership Academy Day seminar presented at the Association’s annual conferences.

Reflections from the Bench: Procedural Fairness and Trauma: How do we avoid re-traumatizing our court users?

I have spent 29 years as a general jurisdiction trial court judge, primarily in the criminal and family courts. Every day on the bench I saw those who had been traumatized by the crimes, actions or neglect of others. I know my experience is not unusual. A 2016 Bureau of Justice Statistics report tells us that the majority of Americans will experience a violent crime at some point in their lives. One in four children will suffer abuse or neglect. That adds up to 3 million children per year. Simply put, it is an unusual day when someone who has experienced trauma is not in the courtroom.

January for divorces?

January has earned the nickname “Divorce Month” in legal circles because many couples wait until just after the holiday season to divorce. A study from the University of Washington from 2016, which looked at divorce filings from 2001-15 in the state of Washington, concluded that the number of filings increased in January, compared to December. Filings climbed from January to March, fell again, and rose to another peak in August.

How I spent my senior status

I was appointed to a state judicial position – Maricopa County AZ Superior Court Commissioner – in 1979, when I was 28, and have been a judicial officer of one stripe or another (Superior Court judge, federal magistrate judge, 9th Circuit judge) ever since. That’s 40 years on the bench. I’ve loved every minute of it (not counting court meetings), but when I became eligible for senior status in 2016, I decided I did not want to waste that unique opportunity. I don’t know of any other job, in or out of government, that allows a person to decide for himself how much he or she wants to continue to work, to draw full pay no matter what, to stay connected to colleagues and professional goings-on – and to still have plenty of time to pursue other interests.