SJI Newsletter

August 2020 | Volume 30, No. 11

NACM Hosting Virtual Education Event

in Place of Annual Meeting

The National Association for Court Management’s (NACM) first-ever Virtual Education

Program and Expo is underway and runs through October. Earlier this summer, NACM’s

leadership made the difficult decision to cancel their in-person annual meeting.

With nearly 40 sessions planned, NACM did not want the court professional community to

miss out on the opportunity to receive this educational content. With the generous support

of the State Justice Institute (SJI), they moved nearly all of the sessions online, to a 10-

week free educational series offered each Thursday afternoon regardless of NACM

membership. The series will consist of both live and recorded sessions, along with unique

networking events and a virtual expo.

Now, more than ever, courts are CONNECTED. As an institution, courts are part of the

local, state, and national community. As such, courts must be connected to their

communities. This necessitates that courts are part of the conversation on numerous

important issues from substance abuse to mental health. Courts must be involved on 

issues of reform, all the while working with other branches of government and their 

communities to ensure access to justice.
Funding Toolkit Offers Intensive Federal Grant Application

Development Series

As part of the State Justice Institute’s (SJI’s) ongoing commitment to support court access

to federal grant funds, SJI will select eight courts to participate in a free, three-month

intensive federal grant application development series. This virtual training series

integrates traditional grant training and technical assistance (TTA) with intensive one-onone support to assist selected sites in the development of a federal application to be

submitted during the FY 2021 grant season. This TTA opportunity will begin in mid-October

2020 and run through the spring of 2021.

This TTA opportunity is open to court staff. Court support agencies and justice system

partners (e.g., probation, prosecutor’s office, Sheriff’s office) are encouraged to participate

with court staff. Up to three staff members from the same locality/region may participate if

selected. SJI is prioritizing this opportunity for courts/staff with no prior federal grant writing

experience or courts/agencies that have previously applied for federal funding but were

unsuccessful.

If you are interested in being considered for this TTA opportunity, click on this link to

answer a brief set of questions. These questions should take you no more than 15 minutes

to complete.

Applications are due October 2, 2020 at 5:00pm EST and the selected sites will be

notified by October 15, 2020.

Additional information about this opportunity is available here.
New Business Court Docket Curriculum

Developed for Courts Nationwide

The National Center for State Courts (NCSC) and the Tennessee Administrative Office of

the Courts (AOC) developed an innovative training curriculum and faculty guide – along

with practical tools – to help state courts establish and manage business court dockets

more efficiently and effectively. The curriculum was developed as part of the Tennessee

Supreme Court’s Business Court Docket Pilot Project.

That project was established in 2015 to address complex corporate and commercial cases

in a specialized manner. In 2018, SJI awarded a grant to the Tennessee AOC and NCSC

to develop and implement a training curriculum to help expand commercial dockets across

the nation.

A wide variety of litigants have requested to transfer to the specialized docket ranging from

large, multi-national companies, to small businesses, said Tennessee Administrative

Director of the Courts Deborah Taylor Tate. The specialized court docket has handled

business topics ranging from contract interpretation, to corporate e-discovery, to “business

divorces,” to trade secrets and intellectual property. 

“In addition to assisting the business and corporate sector by providing a specialized

docket to address complex business disputes, it also helps cases involving citizens of our

state by inserting efficiencies into the system and allowing more time for cases on other

dockets,” said Tennessee Supreme Court Chief Justice Jeffrey Bivins.

One of the main goals of business court dockets is to provide businesses with more

predictable answers and expedite the resolution of disputes, saving time and money for

litigants as well as the court system. Feedback from litigant surveys has been

overwhelmingly positive, with participants reporting a success rate of more than 90

percent.

Tate said the SJI grant allowed Tennessee – in cooperation with other business court

judges – “to build on these successful strategies to create a blueprint for other states

embarking on the creation of their own business court dockets...we hope this will become

a regular way to share innovative ideas across state lines and across branches of

government.”
The Illinois Judicial Branch Forges Ahead on Strategic

Initiatives Amid the Pandemic

In October 2019, the reconstituted Illinois Judicial Conference (IJC), comprised of 15

judicial officers and 14 non-judges and chaired by the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court,

unveiled an inaugural 3-year Strategic Agenda for the Illinois Judicial Branch.

Implementation commenced in December 2019. Eight newly formed Task Forces along

with several existing Committees/Commissions began working on 15 strategic initiatives

identified as highest priorities for the first year of implementation. The 15 initiatives span

the Branch’s five strategic goals, which are:

1. Accessible Justice and Equal Protection under the Law.

2. Procedural Fairness, Timeliness, and Operational Efficiency.

3. Professionalism and Accountability throughout the Judicial Branch.

4. Understanding of and Confidence in the Judicial Branch.

5. Sufficient Funding and Effective Use of Judicial Branch Resources.

Despite the disruption and hardships caused by the pandemic, the work of the Task Forces

and Committees continues. In June 2020, during a virtual IJC meeting, two Task Forces

presented their completed reports and recommendations to the IJC. The reports and

recommendations were unanimously referred to the Supreme Court for review and

appropriate action.

While these are indeed challenging times, it also is an exciting time for the Illinois Judicial

Branch. The many dedicated Task Force members and staff of the Administrative Office of

the Courts continue to meet virtually, and are well on their way to accomplishing their

respective initiatives amid the pandemic.

The Strategic Agenda and At-a-Glance Operational Plan (showing the list of strategic

initiatives and Task Force/existing body assignments) is available online.

For more information, contact Alison Spanner, Director of Strategic Planning at

aspanner@IllinoisCourts.gov or Chris Bonjean, Communications Director to the Illinois

Supreme Court at 312.793.2323 or cbonjean@illinoiscourts.gov.
NJC Core Skills Web Series Supports

Ongoing Judicial Education

The National Judicial College (NJC) is offering a 10-course series aimed at new state court

judges. It may also be useful for administrative law judges, tribal court judges, and military

judges, and a good refresher to judges not so new to the bench as well. Each course is 75

minutes in length, and the full series will run through September 22, 2020. Remaining

courses are listed below, and judges are encouraged to participate in as many as they

would like. 

Sentencing

Friday, August 28 | Time: 8:00 a.m. Hawaii / 10:00 a.m. Alaska / 11:00 a.m. Pacific /

12:00 p.m. Mountain / 1:00 p.m. Central / 2:00 p.m. Eastern

Judicial Discretion and Contempt Webinar

Tuesday, September 1 | Time: 8:00 a.m. Hawaii / 10:00 a.m. Alaska / 11:00 a.m. Pacific

/ 12:00 p.m. Mountain / 1:00 p.m. Central / 2:00 p.m. Eastern

Judicial Security

Thursday, September 3 | Time: 8:00 a.m. Hawaii / 10:00 a.m. Alaska / 11:00 a.m.

Pacific / 12:00 p.m. Mountain / 1:00 p.m. Central / 2:00 p.m. Eastern 

Being Fair, Appearing Fair, and Staying Well While Presiding Over Domestic

Violence Cases

Thursday, September 3 | Time: 8:00 a.m. Hawaii / 10:00 a.m. Alaska / 11:00 a.m.

Pacific / 12:00 p.m. Mountain / 1:00 p.m. Central / 2:00 p.m. Eastern 

Fundamental Writing Skills

Tuesday, September 15 | Time: 7:00 a.m. Hawaii / 9:00 a.m. Alaska / 10:00 a.m. Pacific

/ 11:00 a.m. Mountain / 12:00 p.m. Central / 1:00 p.m. Eastern

Mindfulness

Tuesday, September 15 | Time: 9:00 a.m. Hawaii / 11:00 a.m. Alaska / 12:00 p.m.

Pacific / 1:00 p.m. Mountain / 2:00 p.m. Central / 3:00 p.m. Eastern

Effective Communication

Tuesday, September 22 | Time: 7:00 a.m. Hawaii / 9:00 a.m. Alaska / 10:00 a.m. 

Pacific / 11:00 a.m. Mountain / 12:00 p.m. Central / 1:00 p.m. Eastern

NJC is using SJI Education Support Program (ESP) funding to provide scholarship 

assistance for eligible judges, along with other scholarship sources, to promote maximum 

participation. 
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

Senior Judge

State 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.

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