The Wyoming legislature passed a bill that Governor Dave Freudenthal signed March 3 enacting the principles embodied in cowboy ethics to guide lawmakers and citizens of the state. The move has drawn mixed reactions ranging from embarrassment to high praise.

Although the law is advisory and not compulsory, the guiding behavior is as follows:

Live courageously

Take pride in your work

Finish what you start

Do what’s necessary

Be tough but fair

Keep promises

Ride for the brand

Talk less and say more

Remember that some things aren’t for sale

Know where to draw the line

The only tenet that may need clarification is ride for the brand, which according to Western writer Louis L’Amour means an expression of loyalty to a man’s employer or the particular outfit he rode for.  It was considered a compliment of the highest order in an almost feudal society.  If a man did not like a ranch or the way they conducted their affairs he was free to quit, and many did, but if he stayed on, he gave loyalty and expected it.

Let us contrast Wyoming’s legislative move to my native California, where despite the state teetering on the brink of bankruptcy, the legislature passed a resolution banning cursing in the state for the first week of March. What the $%#@?

I have to say I connect with Wyoming’s effort and count myself as a supporter. After having grown up and spent most of my adult life in Southern California, I now live in my forever home of Eureka on the rugged North Coast where dairy, ranching, timber and fishing are still big industries. Some of my rancher friends invite me to roping and branding of calves in the spring and it’s a terrific experience that harkens back to the old West.

Here is a powerful and tight description about the Western credo from the Swing Shift blog where I pinched the John Wayne photo that adorns this posting … Here is what is great about westerns—they not only show us conflict between good and evil, but they show us what heroes do when placed in those conflicts. They show us the true courage, the selfless sort of bravery that risks life and limb to protect men and morals alike. This is a state of mind that is sorely missing in today’s society, and I sometimes fear we are losing our ability to even recognize it when we see it.

One of the many reasons I like him is that I had a close encounter with John Wayne when I was 14 years old and my father took me on a Marlin fishing trip to Cabo San Lucas … Wayne and my dad hit it off and spent several nights closing the hotel cantina and practicing their rebel yells until rather late. The Duke was there on a fishing trip in his yacht, the Flying Goose, with actor Andy Devine, who despite having a children’s show to his credit, seemed rather grumpy and not in the mood to speak much to me. Wayne, on the other hand, was warm and friendly. My fellow young travelers and I short sheeted Wayne and Devine one night for want of something better to show our affection, and Wayne laughed about it heartily, saying he hadn’t been short sheeted since college. Devine, however, was less than amused and complained to the hotel management that he wanted those responsible rounded up and shot.

In my view, we could all learn a lesson from the cowboy way, and the cowboy code would serve as an excellent code of ethics for any individual or group. Yippee yi yo kai !!!

Chris Crawford

www.justiceserved.com

Photo credit = The Swing Shift blog

Last week was spent in beautiful San Francisco filming a train-the-trainer video of the Institute for Court Management’s new Essential Components course that will now be a part of the Court Manager and Court Executive Development certification programs. So what are the Essential Components?

They are part of the National Association for Court Management’s Core Competencies that set out the knowledge, skills and abilities needed to be a successful court manager. The urban myth is that when the NACM Professional Development Advisory Committee embarked on this effort with grant funding, they found themselves with a pile of unfinished business when the funds ran out, so they piled what was left into Essential Components.

While this is an amusing anecdote, upon closer inspection it makes sense that there is a need to tie together the disparate management activities that comprise modern judicial administration into a systemic whole that serves the higher purpose, role and mission of the court organization. After all, this is the challenge of court administration … not to seek efficiency for efficiency sake, but to manage for effectiveness.

I am honored to have worked on the Essential Components curriculum for ICM, and admit that it was a challenge to organize this material into a cohesive course. I admit to have ruminated over the best strategy until the idea of a graphic came to me in which the Essential Components is shown as a courthouse with purpose role and mission as the roof, the components as the pillars and program management as the foundation. That graphic appears at the top of this blog posting.

So, what do jury management, helping self represented litigants, facilities management, fine collection, alternative dispute resolution, therapeutic courts, security and family law facilitators have in common? They are representative samples of the many, complex programs and activities that court administrators manage in order that today’s courts can fulfill their role in balancing the needs for social order and individual freedom in our society.

Pretty heady stuff

Chris Crawford

www.justiceserved.com

Photo credit = Institute for Court Management

Is it the current economic crunch or do jurors take their duties so seriously that they develop a low tolerance for BS? My experience shows it’s the latter, but the former certainly has dramatically affected jury service of late.

When I was a court administrator in Los Angeles County, my darling wife served as a courtroom clerk assigned to limited jurisdiction civil trials in another court. The economy is always an issue, but there was nowhere near the financial squeeze in the late 1980’s and early 1990’s compared to what we find ourselves in today. Her experience was that jury panels routinely threw out civil cases when they smelled a lack of sincerity or a hint of the BS factor.

A friend and colleague from Ohio (let’s call him Milt) reports that in his service as a judge, juries would often find for the defense when they sensed that claims were petty or not worth their time or attention. To illustrate his point, Milt passed along a story from the Los Angeles Times in which jurors berated a case before it even started because they didn’t think it was worthy of their losing time off of work to hear it. The plaintiff wisely waived jury and opted for a bench trial after this demonstration.

The story has an even deeper undertone that finding qualified jurors to serve is becoming more difficult in our nation’s trial courts because of the economic hardship that service imposes, especially on the self-employed. I think the part that is missed here is that attorneys, too, are affected by the financial crunch and some may now be more willing to take petty cases to jury trial than in the past.

While I have dutifully showed up for service the few times I have been called, I also appeared with proof in hand that my calendar availability was limited to short cause matters. As fortune would have it, I was never seated, although I did go through voir dire once. The judge and counsel wisely noted that having a court management consultant on the panel would not likely work in anyone’s favor.

In my view, there are two major issues at play here … first, jurors take their service VERY seriously. Sure, they will often do everything in their power to avoid service, but once chosen, they largely pay close attention and respect their powerful role. Second, courts and lawyers should take heed that while most people will suck it up and do their civic duty, they very much resent having their time wasted. That means courts should honor a one-day-one-trial rule when summoning jury venires and attorneys should carefully choose which cases to put before a jury.

So I am not chalking up the latest jury news to good jurors gone bad … I just think current economic conditions should cause all of us to re-examine our priorities and the effectiveness of our jury management.

Chris Crawford

www.justiceserved.com

Photo credit = Twelve Angry Men

I’m not ashamed to admit that I love my job. I loved it when I started as court staff in the Los Angeles Municipal Court in the 1970s, and I have really enjoyed my work as a court management consultant since the mid 1990s. What particularly jazzes me is working with caseflow management issues, either helping to improve a client’s calendar or teaching a caseflow course. Next week, I conduct a hands-on caseflow workshop in Orlando for Florida case managers.

OK, so I’m looking forward to thawing out a bit in Florida. Not that Eureka, CA is all that cold, it’s just that winters here are a bit rainy and overcast. However, my business travels have dropped me into some rather snowy and bitter cold climes of late and the prospect of sunshine and blue skies is appealing.

I also enjoy the Florida courts. I have several friends there and I have worked on a few rewarding projects in the state.

Aside from the fun of teaching caseflow, this is a hands-on workshop instead of a full, for-credit class, which means we get to roll-up our sleeves and get into the mechanics of particular calendars instead of a lot of book learning.

There are a ton of attendees (150+), but we’ve carved out plenty of focus group work in separate case types so those who came to solve a particular problem will have a higher likelihood of walking away with something substantive. I am also aided by several senior court executives who have agreed to serve as facilitators for the various groups.

What is likely to come out of this? In all probability, some implementation strategies for Differentiated Case Management, some solid project management tools and the shared experience of learning from colleagues in similar courts.

I am grateful to the Institute for Court Management and the Florida Office of State Courts Administration for allowing me to be part of their court managers conference. The two full days of this workshop will be rewarding for me, and I will work hard to ensure it is for those who share their valuable time to attend.

And no, I will have no time for Disney World.

Chris Crawford

www.justiceserved.com

Photo credit = Microsoft clip art

Consulting is one of those professions with a mixed reputation depending upon the practices and ethics of those who practice it. Accordingly, the recipients of consulting services either praise expert advice and insight, or complain about high priced advice that is not very useful. Here are my views on what makes for good and bad consulting.

Let’s start with the good … as a court management consultant with considerable experience in the field, I’ve learned to apply a few rules and practices to help ensure successful conclusions and happy customers. Here are a few:

Put yourself the client’s shoes – It sounds trite, but it’s true. If you’ve never been on the receiving end of a consulting engagement, it’s hard to envision how it feels. The difference between a client thinking that you “get it” versus thinking you’re clueless often rests on how you approach your work. Try to be helpful, do no harm and produce results that are tangible and solve real life problems. It sounds easier to do than it is.

Act like a practitioner – Some engagements seek an academic study in which current processes are extensively documented and research is provided as to possible solutions. However, it is a mistake to approach all engagements as if they are college research projects that produce lengthy narratives on what the client should already know about the current situation. As a court manager, I wanted a consultant to cut to the chase and start fixing my problem rather than telling me about the jurisdiction and demographics of my court.

Gear solutions to the readiness of the organization – Let’s be truthful … not all organizations are optimal performers. Crafting solutions that are beyond the capability of a client to successfully implement is a waste of time and effort. Use Mazlow’s Hierarchy of Need to assess the level at which consultant solutions are geared to improve the likelihood of successful implementation.

Under promise and over-deliver – This is easier said than done, but it is critical to a satisfactory outcome to refrain from over promising. What makes it even better is if a consultant goes the extra mile or produces more than the scope of work or contract requires in order to please. Excellent reputations are built on this practice.

OK, you heard the good … here is the bad. Some of these were gleaned from TechRepublic.com, a favorite source:

Act like staff is in your way – Try to remember that it is you intruding on staff when you are conducting a site visit and not the other way around. Acting like you’re a big shot, your time is more valuable, and your disruption of workflow is taken for granted are disastrous formulas and just plain bad manners. It is much better to ramp up your listening skills and engage staff into identifying problems and vetting solutions.

Being a boor – It is unacceptable to bring to a work assignment your personal views on religion and politics, and it is never acceptable to flirt or introduce sexual connotations. The first faux pas exhibits bad survival skills; the second is grounds for civil liability by creating a hostile work environment.

Lacking transparency – Whatever minor satisfaction is derived from acting mysteriously or giving the client the impression that you will reveal your findings at a time of your choosing, is far outweighed by the clients right to know how your engagement is going and what the likely outcomes will be. Always telegraph your intentions and always give an exit interview to key contacts so they know what to expect. If your proposed solutions are not workable, you are better off knowing that earlier rather than later.

Copy and paste – When I first started as a consultant, I assumed I could easily copy and paste responses to bid invitations and final reports from my previous engagements. I soon found out that every project is different and rarely can one narrative easily fit multiple circumstances. A limited amount of sharing “lessons learned” is inevitable, but copying and pasting whole portions of previous products is unwise, unethical and can be downright embarrassing if you’re so lazy as to fail to remove the previous client’s name and references from the content.

In these tough economic times, more displaced workers are considering hanging out a shingle and becoming private consultants. I strongly advise a lot of research and preparation before taking this leap to ensure that your new career is as rewarding to your clients as it is to you.

Chris Crawford

www.justiceserved.com

Photo credit = Coffee Quill blog

Microsoft describes their OneNote software as a digital notebook that provides people one place to gather their notes and information, powerful search to find what they are looking for quickly, and easy-to-use shared notebooks so that they can manage information overload and work together more effectively. I describe it as a great productivity tool that can even help ME get organized.

OK, I am opening myself up to the Microsoft skeptics who will accuse me of sidling up to the evil empire, but good is good and from the moment I started my first OneNote notebook I was hooked.

I now create generalized notebooks for my various work areas such as business, education, professional associations, etc. and within each of those notebooks I create tabs such as partnerships, advertising, website, etc. I can then create multiple pages within each tab representing different projects, initiatives and clients. It is on these pages that the magic happens.

While getting a bunch of emails may be expedient communication, tying them together into a cohesive file isn’t easy … except with OneNote. You also have the option of loading shortcut icons with word documents, excel files, PDFs and even graphics to augment your one-stop virtual file can. Here is a sample work page showing a variety of notes and files to give you an idea:

I admit that I don’t use the collaboration feature that allows you to post selected OneNote files and authorize multiple users to access and update them. I can see how it could be a benefit, but I haven’t had much luck with these tools in the past. For instance, I gave Microsoft Office Groove a shot and wasn’t impressed with its clunky interface and not-very-intuitive interface. However, I am reserving judgment as Groove morphs into SharePoint Workspace because the early reports are that the software improvements are substantial.

Samuel Johnson,the great English lexicographer and essayist, once noted that Knowledge is of two kinds. We know a subject ourselves, or we know where we can find information upon it. And if you’ve ever had to rummage through email folders trying to find that important set of instructions or a critical piece of information, you’ll appreciate OneNote’s organization and searchability.

So I agree that Apple reigns king in innovation and cool, but once in awhile Microsoft actually strikes productivity gold. They sure did on OneNote. And the fact that it’s bundled with most Microsoft Office suites is the real payoff. I seriously doubt that I would have purchased this tool on my own, but trying it out as part of the Office suite hooked me as a loyal user.

Chris Crawford

www.justiceserved.com

Photo credit = Microsoft OneNote

Our good friends at the National Center for State Courts’ Jur-E Bulletin covered the new online jury system for the US District Courts. 52 districts out of 94 have the system up and running with an expected 81 to fire it up by the end of the year. All I can say is WHOOPPEE !!!

The eJuror Program is appended to the courts’ Jury Management System and allows jurors to respond to summons, answer qualifying questionnaires, update personal information, check when they are supposed to appear, request an excuse or deferment and select alternative service dates online. Wow !!

The pilot courts reported that 33% of the test jurors chose to use the system and the Administrative Office plans to track the data over the rollout period to see if the number increases. The Travis County (TX) District Clerk’s I-Jury program showed a disproportionately high number of citizens used their online services compared to demographics that indicated the elderly, the poor and Hispanics would likely not use the Internet. The Clerk’s Office anecdotal evidence showed the previous manual system requiring an initial personal appearance for qualification and subsequent appearance for the actual service was so unpopular that traditional technology have-nots found alternative ways to access a computer just to avoid the hassle.

I’m particularly pleased with the development because this means the feds have raised the bar for state trial courts by offering online jury services as a baseline E-court delivery application. It will be a lot harder now to argue that virtual jury services are too hard or not worth the effort.

Coincidentally, I have been called for jury duty at my local court and only offered in-person, phone or fax as methods of managing my service. I would MUCH prefer to surf my way through qualification, postponement and service confirmation. I plan to bring this development to their attention.

Chris Crawford

www.justiceserved.com

Photo credit = Norman Rockwell’s The Holdout at Global Gallery

At approximately 4:30pm on Saturday, January 9 we had a 6.5 earthquake in which the epicenter was too darned close to our house on Humboldt Hill in the shadow of Eureka, California. I had just finished packing for a business trip to teach an ICM Managing Technology and Technology Projects course for which I planned to fly out at 6am the next day.

There were no injuries or structural damage to our home, although there was considerable breakage despite being pretty earthquake savvy and strapping or otherwise securing most of the items in the house. We lost a lot of wine and spirits that we thought were securely stored in the garage, a flat screen TV took a five foot swan dive despite being strapped to the wall, and one of our tropical fish escaped our attention until it was too late to discover it had sloshed out of the tank along with a lot of water.

In all, we have no complaints and thank the powers that watch over us. As a former Los Angeles County Marshal’s office executive buddy of ours once noted, enjoy your good health … the rest you can buy. We cleaned up the major stuff that night despite a power outage that lasted several hours and I left the next day. My wife had the unpleasant task of handling the rest of the cleanup in my absence. To say I owe her big time is gross understatement.

During the course in Ohio, one segment for which I was responsible covered disaster preparedness and continuity of operations (also known as COOP). I ran out of time to cover the prepared material and instead related my tale of woe, leaving the participants with two important points … first, disaster can and will happen to anyone at any time, so preparing is not an option. Second, the National Center for State Courts website has a wealth of information, publications, checklists and frequently-asked-questions on disaster preparedness and COOP, so there is no need to make this stuff up on your own.

One of the class participants noted that as a court technologist she was keenly aware of the need to prepare, and insisted after any major disruption that her staff prepare a Post Event Analysis Report that she calls PEAR. I jotted a note to myself to add this to the class materials to include for future courses, and when I returned home I received a template of a similar report that our local fire agency put together to gauge the effectiveness of the City’s response. For a copy CLICK HERE.

The bottom line is that there was not a single fatality in our community, and injuries were minimal. Sure, there was damage to selected properties, but they were mostly unreinforced masonry buildings whose days were numbered anyway because of their notable failure rate during seismic episodes. Nearly everyone close to this situation attributes the limited effect to preparedness. Since the community has had a long history of being cut off from ingress and egress when severe winter storms and earthquakes strike, people listen when they are warned to take precautionary steps.

Contrast our outcome with the tragic situation in Haiti that suffered a devastating 7.0 temblor days afterward. Obviously, a 0.5 point spread in the Richter Scale is a big difference, as is the lack of appropriate building standards; but the death, injury and damage count is beyond belief. I urge you to consider donating to help Haiti reduce their suffering and hasten their recovery.

A tale of two cities and a PEAR are two important lessons for us all.

Chris Crawford

www.justiceserved.com

Photo credit = Microsoft clip art

Paul Wormeli at the IJIS Institute is the principle author of an annual Wormeli Report on the state of technology and funding initiatives in the criminal justice arena (you have to be an IJIS member to receive it). This year, Paul has asked that I contribute court-specific content in my capacity as chair of the Forum on the Advancement of Court Technology. Please help in this effort by commenting on this post.

I would categorize court IT trends in three categories: budget-related, infrastructure-related and green.

Budget-related

It is no coincidence that this category is listed first as efforts to cut costs and raise revenue are by far the biggest driver this past year and it looks as if the next year will be no different. In September, the Court IT Officers Consortium made this a focus at their annual meeting, with interesting results. There are a few particular areas worthy of note:

Increased use of electronic audio and video recording to capture the verbatim record – the promise of instant cost savings has pushed this technology to the forefront in many jurisdictions. The main advantage is reduced personnel costs, however, most authorities on this subject recommend staff monitoring of recording equipment in order to render recordings more useful through annotation and to avoid problems with equipment malfunction. I would advise reading the Florida courts’ December 2002, February 2005 and October 2007 reports on this topic to get a full picture of the administrative changes that are needed to support a successful migration of this sort in order to avoid unintended consequences and problems.

Paper-on-demand – as a more pragmatic application of imaging and paperless electronic processing of cases and files. This concept recognizes that it is nearly impossible to eliminate all paper, so produce it when needed and operate electronically to the furthest extent possible.

Video and teleconferencing – to cut down on meeting, training and travel costs.

Revenue enhancement – both by acquiring accounts receivable software and outsourcing collections and collection-related tasks such as noticing and skip-tracing.

Website service delivery – recognizing that reducing staffing and courthouse closures mean less customer service unless these services are available in alternative delivery methods. Static websites are becoming more dynamic and interactive with e-filing, fine payment and service delivery taking a higher priority than in the past.

E-filing – although this has been around for a long time, there is increased attention to begin if a court has not in the past, and to expand if courts have already put e-filing to limited use.

Infrastructure-related

Courts are no different than other IT enterprises in their increased attention to virtualization and cloud computing, although these are more trends than reality. Wireless applications and service delivery are also attracting attention, but similarly as a trend as opposed to widespread implementation. Probably the most interest and action is in use of open source software instead of costly name brand products (e.g., Open Office vs MS Office). All of these infrastructure issues are influenced, if not driven entirely, by budgetary concerns.

Green

The greening of business and government is also affecting the courts. The National Association for Court Management published a mini-guide in 2009 on Achieving and Sustaining the Green Court, covering courthouse design, facilities maintenance, energy use, recycling, reduction of solid waste, water efficiency, and the usual related topics; the publication also covers access to IT by staff and the public to make court operations more efficient and green (some of which are covered in Budget, above, such as Paper-on-demand, websites and teleconferencing).

So here the central question … are the operational differences of courts such that the IT trends are significantly different compared to general criminal justice agencies? I would say the electronic recording phenomenon for the verbatim record is one significant difference, and perhaps the depth and breadth of prospective applications for e-filing is another.

I encourage you to add to this discussion to ensure that Paul gets a fully rounded perspective on this fascinating topic. It’s easy, just comment, below!

Chris Crawford

www.justiceserved.com

Photo credit = Microsoft clip art

Dear Santa … this has been one helluva year, big guy, and all the good little judges, court managers and staff have worked their tushies off trying to deliver quality justice with scarce resources, no raises and an increasingly cranky public that is only surpassed in its crankiness by the funding authorities. So here is my wish list for our courts and the heroes that work in them.

1. A stable, predictable funding source – OK, things are tough, I get it. We all know it’s time to tighten our belts, postpone big ticket purchases and defer widespread raises. However, we cannot exist without some indication of what we can expect in terms of funding in the next few years. We can’t plan, develop programs, react to caseload shifts and respond to public needs if we have no clue whether this is a temporary blip or a full time hell. You’re not closing the police department or fire department, and you should consider courts in the same category of urgency. As the New York Times opined about the budgetary impacts on NY courts, state courts are not just another government agency. They are at the center of the nation’s legal system and enforcement of the rule of law, handling more than 95 percent of all civil and criminal litigation. This vital institution — constitutionally, an independent, co-equal branch of government — has been spiraling into crisis as cash-starved states struggle with huge deficits.
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