Category Archives: Court Management

Guest Blogger Magistrate Simon Mole on How Colorado’s Early Experiments with Proactive Case Processing are Fascinating from an ATJ Perspective

John Greacen and Pamela Gagel have reported here on using court-convened initial status conferences for managing domestic relations cases. The status conferences enabled triage and the shepherding of pro se litigants via differential case management.  Greacen and Gagel give subtle … Continue reading

Posted in Access to Justice Generally, Court Management, Guest Bloggers | Leave a comment

Towards a New Accss-Friendly Rules Project

Here is a potentially transformative idea that I raised at the recent Symposium at Harvard Law School on Civil Gideon. Maybe it is time to rethink the Federal Rules Project. Back when the Federal Rules were first being put in … Continue reading

Posted in Access to Justice Generally, Court Management, Simplification | 1 Comment

Senate Confirms New SJI Board Member

This is great news.  Early in January, the Senate confirmed New York Court of Appeals Judge Jonathan Lippman as a member of the State Justice Institute Board. Readers of this blog do not need to be reminded of CJ Lippman’s … Continue reading

Posted in Court Management, Funding, Systematic Change | Leave a comment

Early Court App for Mobile

As reported in the Law Vegas Review Journal, this court app helps people find out which courtroom their case will be heard in. The application will help users search via party, attorney or case number to find the date, time … Continue reading

Posted in Court Management, Mobile Technology, Technology | 2 Comments

Funded Technical Assistance on Access Availalbe to Courts from NCSC Center on Court Acces for All

Funded technical assistance on access to justice is now available to Courts from the NCSC Center on Court Acces for All.  This resource could be very helpful.  Here is the website  for  the assistance program. The forms this assistance might … Continue reading

Posted in Access to Justice Generally, Court Management, Funding, Self-Help Services | 2 Comments

New Access Brief

The Center on Court Access to Justice for All, with which I am affiliated, has just released its second Access Brief, on Forms and Document assembly. Given that this Brief has the imprimatur of the National Center for State Courts, … Continue reading

Posted in Court Management, Document Assembly, Forms, Self-Help Services | Leave a comment

On Linking Practice and Innovation

Today’s New York Times has an interesting article on the advantages of co-locating research and production: [E]xperts say that in industries that produce complex, high-technology products — things like bioengineered tissues, not light bulbs — companies that keep their research … Continue reading

Posted in Court Management, Research and Evalation | Leave a comment

After the Elections — Institutional Implications

I promised some discussion of post-election access to justice institutional implications.  Here, somewhat later than I had hoped, it is. Institutional Stability The first point is obvious.  The LSC and SJI Boards stay the same, as a practical matter for … Continue reading

Posted in Court Management, Funding, Legal Aid | Leave a comment

Center for Court Access to Justice for All Issues First Accss Brief on Self-Help Services

This Brief is the first of a series of Access Briefs, developed by the National Center for State Court’s new Center for Court Access to Justice for All. The Brief, like those to follow, is a short summary of the … Continue reading

Posted in Court Management, Self-Help Services | Leave a comment

Post Election Implications for Access to Justice — Part I: Broad Themes

This very much not an electoral politics blog.  But Tuesday had such strong implications for the access to justice discussion that I think it may be useful to start to think through some of the second level themes and implications … Continue reading

Posted in Access to Justice Generally, Child Support, Court Management, Domestic Violence, LEP | 1 Comment

How Should We Define the Non-Advocacy Services Provided by Courts and Others — Canda Moves to Expand the Wording

While there is broad agreement that there should be a clear verbal distinction between he adversarial/advocacy services provided by lawyers, and the neutral services provided by courts and others to assist litigants navigate the system, there is less complete agreement … Continue reading

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Call for Submissions for “Future Trends in State Courts”

The National Center for State Courts has put out a Call for Submissions for its Future Trends in State Courts publication. This book (which is also available online) is widely read and influential in the court world.  It has often … Continue reading

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NCSC Launches New Court Access Center

Here is the announcement: New Court Access Center The Center on Court Access to Justice for All (Access Center), an initiative of the National Center for State Courts (NCSC), helps judges and courts advance access to justice, especially for poor … Continue reading

Posted in Access to Justice Generally, Court Management, Self-Help Services | Leave a comment

The Age/Innovation Conundrum and Implications for Access to Justice

A fascinating post several months ago in the New York Times Economix blog, Getting More Liberal With Age, deals with the age-old conundrum as to whether people really become more conservative as they get older. In contrast to received wisdom: A … Continue reading

Posted in Access to Justice Generally, Court Management, Legal Aid | Leave a comment

Request for Examples of Courts Providing Information on Legal Aid and Access to Counsel Services

Jim Greiner at Harvard (the prof who did the randomized studies in Massachusetts) is trying to find samples of courts who attach notices or flyers to summonses or other early-in-the-litigation-type papers that say something to the effect of, “If you … Continue reading

Posted in Access to Counsel, Court Management | 2 Comments