SJI Newsletter

May 2019 | Volume 29, No. 8

Civil Justice Initiative Pilot Project

Releases Miami-Dade Evaluation

In November 2016, the Circuit Civil Division of the Eleventh Judicial Circuit Court of Florida implemented the 

Civil Justice Initiative Pilot Project (CJIPP) to test the impact of Civil Case Management Teams (CCMTs) on 

civil case processing. CCMTs were envisioned as an essential component of civil justice reform in the report 

and recommendations of the CCJ Civil Justice Improvements Committee. With SJI support, the CJIPP 

created four CCMTs, each consisting of a judge, a case manager, a judicial assistant, and a bailiff. The 

CCMTs developed a standardized case management process to streamline administrative tasks, triage cases 

into appropriate case management pathways, and monitor case progress. The remaining 21 judges in the 

Circuit Civil Division continued to manage civil caseloads under traditional case processing practices and 

staffing assignments, providing a baseline for comparison.

To assess the impact of CJIPP, the National Center for State Courts (NCSC) conducted an outcome 

evaluation that compared the outcomes of cases assigned to the CJIPP teams with those assigned to the nonCJIPP judges (baseline). The NCSC found that CJIPP cases closed at a significantly higher rate, and 

approximately five months earlier on average than baseline cases. Shortly after the initial launch of the pilot 

program, the CJIPP cases experienced a temporary increase in the number of court hearings and case 

management conferences as lawyers in the CJIPP cases requested modifications to case management 

orders, including continuances or extensions of time to complete litigation tasks; however, the frequency of 

these case events returned to normal levels within three months. 
In addition to shorter timeframes and increased case activity, the CJIPP cases also showed a smaller ratio 

between the number of motions filed and the number of orders entered, suggesting that CJIPP judges were 

more responsive than baseline judges in deciding motions in a timely manner, thus preventing unnecessary 

costs and delay for litigants. 

The NCSC evaluation also conducted focus groups and surveyed attorneys in CJIPP cases to solicit their 

perceptions about the pilot program. Attorneys were positive overall about the case management practices 

introduced through CJIPP, with more than half of attorneys surveyed reporting that CJIPP judges set clear 

expectations and enforced case deadlines. During focus groups, several attorneys also commented that the 

CJIPP judges' level of oversight and willingness to enforce case management orders tended to reward 

competence and professionalism and to discourage unnecessary gamesmanship in litigation. CJIPP judges 

also reported that the CCMT model removed some of the administrative burden associated with civil case 

management, giving them more time to review case details before hearings or deciding motions. CJIPP 

judges also noted that attorneys seemed to respond positively to the greater attention from judges, moving 

their cases sooner than usual. 

The NCSC evaluation report also describes challenges that the Court experienced during the CJIPP 

implementation as well as suggestions for other courts planning to implement CCMTs.

Public Engagement with

the Courts is a Two-way Street

The Massachusetts Trial Court is looking for leaders willing to "commit to a longer-term partnership" between 

the courts and the community. In Nebraska, the state Supreme Court wants to better recognize the needs of 

Native Americans. The Franklin (Ohio) Municipal Court is learning how under-served populations perceive 

specialized dockets and its Self-Help Resource Center.

Those are three of the six court systems participating in NCSC's Public Engagement Pilot Project, which aims 

to identify proven ways to build trust and confidence in the courts. Each pilot court is working on a different 

aspect of court services in connection to public engagement. After the project ends, toolkits will be available 

for courts nationwide.

Chief Judge of the D.C. Court of Appeals Anna Blackburne-Rigsby chairs the Community Engagement in the 

State Courts Initiative, which oversees the pilot project. At the first meeting of the pilot site teams earlier this 

year, Chief Judge Blackburne-Rigsby said courts have been working for decades to improve public trust and 

confidence in the courts, but little progress has been made.
She said the primary method courts have used is outreach to communities. Representatives from state 

teams and project researchers are pictured at top of the page.

"Outreach is one-way communication," she said. "Engagement is different. It involves listening. It's a twoway. We are going to come up with strategies, outcomes, toolkits, and data. This project is going to make 

a difference."

The other three pilot sites include:

• Kansas City (Mo.) Municipal Court, which is integrating court user surveys into its public

engagement process;

• Puerto Rico Judicial Branch, which is focusing on helping communities address

neighborhood conflict; and

• Texas Office of Court Administration, which is building on results from its prior "Beyond the

Bench" effort.

The Public Engagement Pilot Project is building on information gathered and analyzed from a three-city 

listening tour in which judges met with community members to hear about their experiences with - and their 

impressions of - the courts. The sessions, broadcast on PBS titled "Courting Justice," were held in Los 

Angeles, Cleveland and Little Rock, Ark. After the listening tours, surveys were sent to court and civic 

leaders to hone in on specific areas of concern that courts need to address. Each of the pilot sites is 

engaging the public to address such needs collaboratively. Tune into this month's podcast with Chief 

Judge Anna Blackburne-Rigsby.

Advancing Judicial Excellence

in New Mexico

Supreme Court Chief Justice Judith Nakamura addressed a joint session of the New Mexico Legislature 

earlier this year to outline plans for improving and streamlining New Mexico Courts operations to better 

serve New Mexicans. A core component moving forward will be an SJI grant-funded evaluation by the 

National Center for State Courts (NCSC) of appellate court processes.

The first-ever evaluation is already underway and seeks to help the judiciary and court administration 

identify issues that need to be addressed. It will work in tandem with a workload study, also to be 

performed by the NCSC of the district, metropolitan, and magistrate courts.
Plans for improving court operations are part of a campaign called "Advancing Judicial Excellence" 

that originated last spring at a meeting of chief judges, court executive officers and representatives 

of magistrate and municipal courts. 

"This initiative, which will provide the framework for the judiciary's strategic planning and budgets for 

the next three years is rooted in two simple questions," the Chief Justice told lawmakers. "Are we 

doing our best work? And how can we do better?"

NCSC Completes National Grant 

Project on Improving Language Access 

Services in the State Courts

To further support state courts in developing and improving language access services, the National 

Center for State Courts provided direct technical assistance, guidance, and new tools for state and 

local courts with the support of an SJI Grant awarded in FY 2013.

In addition to providing individual local and state court technical assistance, the NCSC also used 

developed a national tool to assist state courts in locating and accessing qualified court 

interpreters that may not be easily sourced at the local level. The result was the release of a court 

interpreter database with 1,324 interpreters in 49 languages, which was made available to court 

language access program managers across the country in 2016.

These efforts assisted local and state jurisdictions of varying size and governance structures not 

only in addressing their specific language access needs, but also in providing models and work 

products for use by others, thus contributing to significant improvements in language services 

nationwide.

The full report on the work completed by NCSC under this grant is available online at the NCSC 

Language Access Services Section website.
SJI Board of Directors

Chair

John D. Minton, Jr.

Chief Justice

Supreme Court of Kentucky 

Frankfort, KY

Vice Chair

Daniel J. Becker

State Court Administrator (ret.) 

Utah AOC

Salt Lake City, UT

Secretary

Gayle A. Nachtigal

Senior Circuit Court Judge

Washington County Circuit Court 

Hillsboro, OR

Treasurer

David V. Brewer

Justice

Oregon Supreme Court

Salem, OR

Jonathan Lippman

Chief Judge of New York (ret.)

of Counsel

Latham & Watkins, LLP

New York, NY

Chase T. Rogers

Chief Justice (ret.)

Supreme Court of Connecticut

Partner

Pitney Day, LLP

Hartford, CT

Wilfredo Martinez

County Judge

9th Judicial Circuit of Florida

Orlando, FL

Marsha J. Rabiteau

Executive Director

Center for Human Trafficking

Court Solutions

Bloomfield, CT

Hernan D. Vera

Principal

Bird Marella P.C.

Los Angeles, CA

Isabel Framer

President

Language Access Consultants, LLC 

Copley, OH

Jonathan D. Mattiello

Executive Director

The State Justice Institute is a federally-funded, non-profit corporation established by

federal law in 1984 to improve the quality of justice in the state courts.

Products and Resources

Since 2011, SJI has designated the library at the National Center for State Courts as the

official repository of published work related to SJI-supported grant projects. You can

search the ecollection online by using the term, State Justice Institute.

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