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Plenty of Idea-Sharing at NJC’s Caseflow Management Summit

By Heather Singer, NJC Communications Specialist

1/29/2008

The National Judicial College’s Best Practices in Caseflow Management: A Working Summit held Jan. 22-23, 2008, brought together 42 individuals from across the nation to examine caseflow management. The summit was sponsored through a grant from the Bureau of Justice Assistance. Participants, included judges, court executives, lawyers, and experts in caseflow and court management. They worked in large and small groups to examine ways to educate judges and how courts can effectively manage their caseloads.

“The sharing of ideas with practitioners and experts was great,” expressed Court Administrator Marcus Reinkensmeyer, of Phoenix, Ariz. “We learned a lot from each other. Much of the information validated the earlier caseflow management research. We won’t have to start from scratch.”

One of the focus points of the summit was to determine the core elements of caseflow management. Some of the sessions covered the consequences of poor caseflow management, factors impacting effective caseflow management, caseflow management trends, key issues, designing effective caseflow management systems and implementing or enhancing caseflow systems.

Many summit attendees said they were eager to contribute to this reexamination of caseflow management. “There is an amazing amount of information here,” expressed Hon. Lori Walkley, of Norman, Okla. “My state is at the beginning of this process. We are looking for tools to implement in caseflow management.”
Longtime NJC faculty member, Hon. Judith Kreeger of Dade County, Florida, said the two-day event was extremely productive. “What I am hoping will come out of this is for the courts to be more efficient in caseflow management, and my court, as well,” explained Judge Kreeger. “I am hoping the summit will enable judges to do a better job of handling the public’s business.”

Hon. Terry Ruckriegle, of Breckenridge, Colo., said examining caseflow management practices is crucial in serving the public in a timely manner. “The challenge is going to be how to assimilate the information generated during the summit into a final product from which action can be taken. I think it is important to look at caseflow management, ultimately because it is a way of evaluating and identifying more effective ways of conducting your business and providing justice to participants, and by justice, I mean, fair and impartial decisions without unnecessary delay.” said Judge Ruckiegle.

Caseflow challenges exist in courts nationwide facing overburdened dockets and limited budgets. According to several participants, caseflow issues need to be examined on an ongoing basis by judges and courts to maintain an efficient system that provides the quality of justice all citizens expect from courts.

The information and ideas gathered at the summit will be compiled by The National Judicial College into publications to assist state trial judges, trial court administrators, and state judicial branch educators in implementing quality caseflow management.

“So much information came out of this event,” said NJC Program Attorney Laurie Ginn, who coordinated the summit. “The publications will be an incredible tool in implementing strategies that enhance the productivity and efficiency of courts nationwide. I am very pleased with the outcome and the positive feedback from those who attended.”