Latest Posts

Robot Kittens!

Posted in Wanted on Tuesday September 07 2010 @ 6:16pm

Wow, really? Robot kittens? Where can we get one? Must have one!!!

Waiiiit a minute -- like robot kittens, courts (and taxpayers) should check out new court-related programs before they bring one home. Who will feed it? What does it do? And does it work?

In these times of lean, mean budgets, you'd think this would go without saying. But it does not. We still have D.A.R.E., a federal program clinically proven to do nothing. And if we had a nickel for every touchy-feely policy article we read, we'd be retired in St. Augustine. Yes, the drug court graduation was touching. Yes, lives were turned around -- anecdotally. Enough already!

Don't think nobody wants to read this difficult data stuff -- that's an insult to us all. It's not hard to find credible studies. With a little elbow grease, they are not difficult to translate into readable, accessible stories. And if there is no data, that is notable in itself.

A few places to start with the research --

The Government Accounting Office: Up there with raindrops on roses and whiskers on robot kittens, the GAO is one of our favorite things. Sad to say, it is also the only place in DC lacking a proper gift shop.

National Center for State Courts: NCSC has an array of resources available on its website and in its library. What's not there is hidden in the hearts of its employees. Call them up. These are good people. Certain subgroups, such as the Court Statistics Project, are particularly helpful.

Empirical Legal Studies: Based at Cornell, ELS now has its own blog! This is in addition to housing the journal and the gigantic brains.

Bureau of Justice Statistics: BJS has more law and order than most TV channels.

Get your nerd on! We all -- taxpayers, government, court users, readers, students, researchers, citizens -- deserve it.

And for the record, drug courts are no mere robot kittens -- they do work. Just show us the research already.

News from Kosovo

Posted in Wanted on Wednesday August 25 2010 @ 8:09pm

Nice to hear from former Michigan State Court Adminisrator, John Ferry. John is currently working on the NCSC Kosovo project. He writes:

Hello from Kosovo! One of our more successful (and fun) recent projects relating to teaching the community and kids about the justice system, and the promise that a strong justice system brings, is the development of a series of coloring books for primary school students. I’ve attached a summary of results, along with a “flyer” requesting help in buying crayons for the kids here to use. Our project has developed and printed the coloring books, and we provide training (along with local judges) to the teachers. The summary provides information about the feedback. My favorite is the story of the young student who drew a Sun in a courtroom scene. When asked about it – he said, where there is justice, there is sun.

How can you help, you ask? The classic Crayola 8-Pack, needed to color the aforementioned book, are available from Personal Wholesaler, for example.

Send them to:

National Center for State Courts
Attn: Michael Sweikar, c/o Kosovo
2425 Wilson Blvd., Suite 350
Arlington, VA 22201
Phone: 703-841-5619

Please send an e-mail to let them know you're donating to USAID Justice Support Program Officer John Cipperly, jcipperlyncsc-ks.org.

Wanted: Guinea Pig Court

Posted in Wanted on Sunday January 31 2010 @ 9:19am

UC Davis law professor Donna Shestowsky is looking for a few good courts. She writes My research team at the University of California is preparing to conduct a major study, funded by the National Science Foundation, on how litigants choose between various court procedures (arbitration, mediation, and trial).

To that end, the team needs courts to study. They are just one court short of a sample (is that like being a few sandwiches short of a picnic?) and need your help. The criteria is:

The court is a state trial court where general civil matters are heard (i.e., contract, torts, malpractice, etc.). (They do not want to study people filing in specialized courts such as family court, bankruptcy court, etc.) The county in which the court has jurisdiction should ideally have at least 100,000 residents.

In this court, trial, court-sponsored mediation and court-sponsored arbitration must be offered for the very same type of case. For example, some courts offer arbitration for cases worth $50,000 or more, and mediation for smaller dollar values. Other courts, for example, send property cases to arbitration and all other cases to mediation. In both of these kinds of courts, parties are funneled to a particular form of ADR. For this study, researchers seek courts offering the same case/issue type and same amount in controversy the opportunity to go to mediation or arbitration.

Parties actually have a choice between mediation and arbitration. Because the researchers are trying to study how litigants choose between procedures, if judges can require the party to do one or the other, that court would not meet the study's requirements. If the court calls the program mandatory, that also would not meet researchers' needs unless parties may choose between mediation or arbitration. If the court has an opt-out program whereby the court says they must use mediation or arbitration, but a party can veto the choice, the court would meet the criteria.

Courts must actually offer both arbitration and mediation themselves. That is, either they have a staff of at least 5 arbitrators or mediators or the court maintains a roster of approved mediators/arbitrators. A court that simply recommends, advises, or encourages a process but does not also have the staff (or roster) to handle cases would not meet the researchers' criteria.

Researchers need party names and contact information for both defendants and plaintiffs, as well as case type and amount in controversy filed in the previous 2-3 weeks of the start of the study for 3 consecutive months. The researchers can offer a small stipend from the grant to fund this type of data collection.

Researchers need to know when a case closes within 2 weeks of the trial outcome, settlement/agreement, or dismissal.

Donna says the study is the very first large-scale study of its kind and we expect it will be often cited and widely read by lawyers, judges, academics and court personnel.

To participate please contact Donna at 530-754-5693 or e-mail dshest ucdavis.edu. The court must be chosen by the end of Februrary, 2010, so please no more contacts after that time.

New Year, New Job

Posted in Wanted on Sunday January 10 2010 @ 8:21pm

Overwhelmed by careerbuilder.com? Tired of getting scammed by craigslist? Is using monster.com too much like taking a sip of water from a fire hydrant?

If you're looking for a job, best of luck to ya. We've been there and it's not easy. Persevere, and take a look-see here:

ABA: The American Bar Association always has a ton of classifieds in their numerous publications, but they also post their own job announcements for positions in Chicago, DC, and around the world. These are not just for attorneys -- office staff, analysts, editors/writers, membership/association services, techies, and others need apply.

Chronicle of Higher Education: Academics and whackademics alike can search for faculty, administrative, research, and other positions at institutions of higher learning.

CSG: The Council of State Governments offers interesting policy work from locations in California, DC, Georgia, Illinois, Kentucky, Maryland, and New York. Its jobs page includes both CSG and related employment opportunities elsewhere.

Feds: The federal government posts jobs at usajobs.gov. The search engine is pretty handy (we used it ourselves many times), and the range of jobs -- legal, medical, technical, sciences, engineering, etc. -- is incredible. All federal jobs are posted here, and many federal-related sites will direct viewers to usajobs rather than post their own jobs on their own site.

Fine Arts Fund: Arts-related jobs in and around Cincinnati. If this sounds like a crazy path for law- and court-based employees, guess again. Those office, organizational, and grant-writing skills, plus a strong dose of community-mindedness, are all transferable to the arts field (among others).

NCSC: The National Center for State Courts, with offices in DC, Williamsburg, and Denver, plus international outposts, posts their job announcements here. The Center also maintains a list of job postings from the courts, and houses state-by-state links to state and state court employment/HR pages.

NCSL: The National Council of State Legislatures has a clearinghouse of jobs in state legislatures. It includes jobs in states, with NCSL itself (which has offices in Denver and DC), and related employment postings from other places.

NLADA: The National Legal Aid & Defender Association posts jobs from across the country for attorneys, legal office staff, paralegals, program coordinators, etc.

Hang in there!

Florida Counties Seek Mediators

Posted in Wanted on Wednesday May 06 2009 @ 8:49am

No, you don't need to sit in the lotus position and say om -- that's *meditation*!

The County Mediation Program for Florida's 14th Circuit (Bay, Holmes, Jackson, and Washington counties) will hold a free mediation training in June.

For contact info and more see Court Mediator Program Seeks Volunteers, News Herald (May 5, 2009). If you're not in that area, surely there is a program near you! Find it at NAFCM.

Wanted: Nominations

Posted in Wanted on Wednesday April 08 2009 @ 7:10am

Anyone who ever worked with the late, great Florida court administrator Kent Palmer knew how much he brought to the table. His common sense, integrity, and kind heart moved many a project along.

In his honor, the Conference of State Court Administrators (COSCA) bestows the Kenneth R. Palmer Distinguished Service Award on a deserving current or former COSCA member. This year's nominations are due May 1.

For more information see COSCA's press release and/or contact Shelley Rockwell at NCSC.

Need-to-Know Basis

Posted in Wanted on Wednesday January 14 2009 @ 9:12am

Does your court have a probate mediation program? If so, court-o-rama desperately needs to know about it!

We will be co-presenting "Dead Decedents and Splitting Heirs: How Do We Get Disputants Out of Court and Around the Table?" at this year's
ABA Dispute Resolution Section conference, April 15-19 in NYC.

To that end, we are compiling a list of programs and resources (old habits die hard). Please send word to askove (at) gmail.com.

Thank you!

Hackers and Help Wanted

Posted in Wanted on Wednesday November 19 2008 @ 5:28pm

Susan Yates has spent her career helping people solve conflict. Now, the executive director of Resolution Systems Institute (RSI) has her own conflict -- someone hacked their wonderful site!

Good grief! What's this world coming to? We know court ADR has its critics, but goodness.

Meanwhile, RSI is seeking a Director of Administration. Here's the announcement you can read on their site, as soon as it's functioning again:

Are you good at writing and good at working with numbers? Does disorganization make you crazy? Do errors in print keep you up at night? Do you like figuring out why a computer won’t communicate with a printer or why new software keeps crashing? Do you enjoy designing ways for technology to make life easier? Do you see yourself being happy working on fundraising? Do you have an interest in alternative dispute resolution? Do you want to work with people who are committed to their jobs, and enjoy working together?

If so, you may be interested in the position of Director of Administration at RSI.

The RSI Mission

The mission of RSI is to encourage effective and efficient use of court-related alternative dispute resolution. To accomplish this mission, RSI provides a range of information-gathering, clearinghouse, networking, evaluation, analysis and training services. RSI is not-for-profit and affiliated with the Center for Conflict Resolution. For more information, visit www.aboutrsi.org.

DUTIES OF DIRECTOR OF ADMINISTRATION

The Director of Administration is responsible for all administrative functions of RSI, including assistance with fund development. Regular duties include bookkeeping and related activities; meeting organization – from simple conference calls to complex multi-day mediator trainings; research of potential donors and organization of fund development efforts; document generation – from thank you letters and meeting minutes to complete proposals and program evaluations; procurement of computer equipment, office supplies and other organizational needs; management of all organizational documents and information in areas such as planning and PR, especially contact lists; response to all computer-related issues; and attention to all other administrative functions.

As part of the staff team, the Director of Administration is usually involved with every project that is important to RSI. Examples have included: recruitment and selection of new staff members; work on proposals; research for the Court ADR Resource Center and research for studies.

This position offers an excellent opportunity to work as part of a small, dedicated staff, serving unmet needs and developing creative ways to do so. It is essential to the smooth functioning and growth of the organization.

Salary for this position is $26-30,000, with an excellent benefits package. The Administrative Director reports to the RSI Executive Director, works as part of a staff team, and works with the Executive Committee, funding sources and others involved in court ADR. The position offers the opportunity for extensive exposure to the rapidly developing ADR field. Mediation training is also available to the qualified applicant. The position is available December 15.

For more information about the position, visit www.aboutrsi.org.

Submit cover letter and resume to Jennifer Spagnolo:

RSI; c/o Center for Conflict Resolution; 11 E. Adams Street, Suite 500; Chicago, IL 60603-6302.

Fax: 312-922-6463. E-mail: jspagnolo@aboutrsi.org. No phone calls, please.

Job Hunting with Court-O-Rama

Posted in Wanted on Friday November 14 2008 @ 8:01am

Still looking for that elusive job? Join the club!

We know times are tough. To assist in your search, we periodically post interesting want ads and help-wanted sections of interesting organizations. Here are a few:

Council of State Governments: currently hiring in New York, DC, Bethesda, MD, and at its Lexington, KY, headquarters.

NCJFCJ: seeking an attorney for its Family Violence Department in the DC office.

NCSC: research associate plus several international positions.

Texas Office of Court Administration/Judicial Council: seeks an attorney, associate judge, program specialist, collections specialist, and techies. Page includes links to the appellate courts' announcements.

West Virginia Judicial System: seeks a circuit judge law clerk, probation officer, statistical analyst, and court reporter.

Supreme Court of Virginia: hiring (in several locations) deputy clerks, magistrates (all levels), interpreters (due today), Court Improvement Program research analyst, tape librarian, and a magistrate training specialist.

Oregon Judicial Department: legal counsel, analysts, techies, comptrollers, court administrators -- we hear Oregon is lovely.

Oklahoma State Courts: where the wind comes rushing down the plain, they need IT folks and a business analyst.

New Mexico Courts: admins, a CIO, fiscal services (note the trend in financial-related court jobs? When things get tough, hire a budget guy or gal!), HR, IT, paralegals, attorneys, building & grounds, probation officers (we expect anyone who ever taught high school may have a foot in the door), court clerks, counselors, law librarians, court reporters, pretrial services, background investigators, trainers, the list goes on and on!

NCSL: join the most dangerous branch! See job openings at NCSL and in individual state legislatures. Current NCSL openings are limited to interns in the Denver area, but do stay tuned. Other postings (from outside NCSL, but listed here) include more IT, auditors, and fiscal analysts.

Congressional Research Service: interesting stuff! Currently advertising for energy policy specialist, research manager in American Law, education policy specialist, quality assurance editor, and coordinator of public policy review. All in DC.

Meanwhile, f/k/a advises apply for this! Be prepared for an invasive procedure.

Shameless self-promotion: hire court-o-rama! Blogging doesn't quite pay the bills. Almost. We're insightful (sometimes painfully so!), enliven dull meetings, work best under pressure, and type faster than a hurricane. Ask how high, we're already jumping.

Happy Friday and good luck!

RFP-O-Rama!

Posted in Wanted on Wednesday November 12 2008 @ 10:05am

We come across these too often to mention, but every so often a few interesting court RFPs stick out of the crowd.

Blue Ribbon Commission Public Education Consultant: California Judicial Council. Due November 17, 2008.

GAL and/or Legal Counsel Services for the Family Court and Family Court Drug Court for Parents: Hawaii. Due November 28, 2008.

Pierce County Juvenile and Family Court Facilitator: Washington state. Due December 1, 2008.

Hefty Disclaimer: court-o-rama has nothing to do with these, nothing at all! We're just posting them for your information (FYI). We do not compete, apply for, or review solicitations. We are in no way involved in these. If you are interested in any, please contact the proper authorities immediately, if not sooner.

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