2013 COURT AND CASE ADMINISTRATION FOR COURT ADMINISTRATORS

Overview 

Court Administrators, Clerks of the Court and other Court Administrative Officials have to contend with constant changes and increasing complexity in the Court Administration environment. This seminar focuses on the principles and techniques for the development and administration of a modern, efficient, fair and transparent court system, from a court administrator’s perspective. References will be made to the experience of court administrators in the United States as a basis for discussion. The seminar will include presentations on case and document management for the efficient processing of cases through the courts, as well as site visits to local federal and state courts and court support institutions. Selected sessions and site visits will be combined with the “Judicial, Court and Case Management for Judges” seminar which will be conducted concurrently with this seminar.

Course Outline

Basic Concepts and Principles (presented concurrently with Judicial Seminar)

• Overview of the United States legal system and its component state court systems
• The role of an independent judiciary in trial and appellate courts
• Court structures
• Fundamental principles of judicial management and court administration

General Issues of Judicial and Court Administration

• Court administration at the national level, regional and local level
• Non-judicial court management
• Court staff integrity: ethics and codes of conduct for court managers

Specific Issues of Judicial Management

• Budget and finance
• Space and facilities
• Legislative and public affairs statistics
• Court staff training
• Strategic and long-range planning
  

Case Management (presented concurrently with Judicial Seminar)

• Case management principles and practices
• Evaluation of court procedures and case processing
• Developing and implementing a case management plan
• Establishing a case management system
• Technology for case management
• An efficient clerk's office: filing and other systems

Course Advisor

James G. Apple is currently President of the International Judicial Academy, a non-profit educational institution in the District of Columbia which he founded in 1999. He was formerly a senior staff officer at the Federal Judicial Center, the U.S. federal courts’ agency for education, training and research. He has conducted or co-conducted almost 100 seminars and conferences on issues of judicial and court administration and other topics related to modern court systems for judges and court and legal officers from countries around the world.