Volume 24, No. 5 February 2014 

E-SJI NEWS SJI NEWS

In this Issue 

Talent Management 

Program 

1 - 2 

Dividing the Waters

Initiative 

2 

SRL Case Brochure 

and Online Resource 

3 

Call for E-SJI News 

Articles 

3 

Page 1 

Talent Management Program 

Addresses Future Workforce Needs 

Find Exclusive 

SJI Content on 

Facebook and 

Twitter

For more content from the recent SJI Board meeting, important national resource announcements, and partner updates, look 

no further than the SJI Facebook

and Twitter pages. 

A quarter of the Judiciary of Guam’s workforce is 50 

years of age or older, and one-half of court leaders, 

directors, and managers ertr eligible to retire as of 

2012. Absent proactive steps to prepare for future 

staffing and workforce needs, the Judiciary sought 

SJI support through a Technical Assistance grant to 

acquire skilled consulting in the areas of succession 

planning and talent management (SJI-12-T-161). 

Under the leadership of Chief Justice F. Philip Carbullido, Associate Justice Katherine Maraman, and 

Administrator of the Courts Perry Taitano, the Judiciary developed and implemented a Talent Management Program (TMP) in 2013 with the assistance of 

an internal Talent Management Team and Dr. 

Brenda Wagenknecht-Ivey of PRAXIS Consulting, 

Inc. 

The Judiciary’s TMP has two tracks: 1) Leadership 

Development; and 2) Career Development. The 

Leadership Development track focuses on developing and retaining high potential, internal staff, ensuring the Judiciary has a pipeline of qualified candidates to fill critical leadership and management positions when vacated. The Career Development Track 

provides other high performing staff with additional 

training and career enhancement opportunities to 

ensure a highly skilled workforce. 

Features of the Judiciary’s TMP, along with tips and 

other replicable samples from the Judiciary and 

several other courts, are available in the Talent Management Resource Guide. The Resource Guide includes:

Steps for implementing a Talent Management 

Program; 

A description of the Judiciary’s two TMP 

tracks; 

Eligibility requirements and application procedures for the Judiciary’s tracks; 

Tips for evaluating TMP applicants and for 

developing future leaders; 

Samples of key positions and competency models; 

Sample policy statements, forms, and templates; 

and 

Other tips and recommendations for developing 

and rolling out a TMP. 

Continued on page 2 
E-SJI News Volume 24, No. 5 February 2014 

Page 2 

Since FY 2009, SJI has supported the National 

Judicial College’s (NJC) Dividing the Waters 

(DTW) initiative, which provides judicial 

officers, responsible for presiding over complex and varied water litigation matters, a 

forum for learning and exchanging ideas. 

DTW initially began with a single educational 

objective with the understanding that, “to fulfill their professional obligations effectively, 

judges presiding over water adjudications 

needed an ethical forum in which they could 

talk to and learn from each other, hear from 

scientists and experts in other disciplines, and 

explore local and national perspectives.” During this time, the initiative provided a variety 

The 2014 Dividing the Waters Conference will 

be held May 14-17 at the University of Oregon 

School of Law, and include judicial officers, 

water law experts, scholars, and stakeholders 

from around the United States. 

Dividing the Waters Initiative Provides 

Critical Resources to State Court Judges 

of face-to-face courses for judicial officers 

seeking to increase their knowledge about this 

critical issue. In subsequent years, this program expanded online to reach more judicial 

officers located in specific regions, such as the 

Marcellus Shale. 

One of the most successful endeavors of the 

project has been its ability to build a water 

knowledge network where judges, special 

masters, and referees are able to connect professionally. Additional objectives of DTW 

include: 

Sharing information about how the different states have structured and conducted 

stream adjudications and other water law 

proceedings; 

Discussing the issues on conducting water law cases from legal and logistical 

considerations; 

Learning what works, and what does not 

work, so judges newly introduced to the 

dynamics of water law have the benefit of 

peer-to-peer mentoring and experience; 

and 

Benefiting from outside expertise, inclusive of technical and scientific experts 

from a variety of subject areas critical to 

water law cases. 

The Judiciary expects to reap many benefits 

from the TMP, including:

Institutional knowledge of experienced 

court leaders and managers will be preserved and shared; 

Continuity of operations and high quality 

services will be maintained as turnover 

occurs; 

Staff will perform at a higher level with 

increased knowledge, skills, and abilities; 

Staff will be more engaged and committed due to leadership and career development opportunities; and 

Vacancies will be able to be filled more 

quickly from groups of qualified, internal 

staff, who have proven track records. 

The Talent Management Resource Guide is 

available from the Judiciary of Guam’s website and the NCSC Library and Digital Archive. 

Continued from page 1 

Recently, DTW released its first Hydrological 

Modeling Bench Book, as well as expanded 

the online availability of a number of publications previously only made available to past 

participants of DTW courses. The online 

resource includes bench books, articles, summaries of key court decisions related to water 

cases, and the DTW Network Note. To connect with the DTW and learn more about its 

programs and resources, contact the NJC. 
Page 3 

SJI Board of Directors

Chairman 

James R. Hannah 

Chief Justice 

Supreme Court of Arkansas 

Little Rock, AR 

Vice Chairman 

Daniel J. Becker 

State Court Administrator 

Utah AOC 

Salt Lake City, UT 

Secretary 

Gayle A. Nachtigal 

Senior Circuit Court Judge 

Washington County Circuit Court 

Hillsboro, OR 

Treasurer 

Hernan D. Vera 

President & CEO 

Public Counsel Law Center 

Los Angeles, CA 

Chase T. Rogers 

Chief Justice 

Supreme Court of Connecticut 

Hartford, CT 

Jonathan Lippman 

Chief Judge of the State of New York 

New York Court of Appeals 

New York, NY 

David V. Brewer 

Justice 

Oregon Supreme Court 

Salem, OR 

Wilfredo Martinez 

County Judge 

9th Judicial Circuit of Florida 

Orlando, FL 

Marsha J. Rabiteau 

Executive Director 

Legal Policy Strategies Group 

Bloomfield, CT 

John B. Nalbandian 

Partner 

Taft Stettinius & Hollister LLP 

Cincinnati, OH 

Isabel Framer 

President 

Language Access Consultants, LLC 

Copley, OH

Jonathan D. Mattiello 

Executive Director 

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

federal law in 1984 to improve the quality of 

justice in the state courts. 

E-SJI News Volume 24, No. 5 February 2014 

The Court Statistics Project (CSP), hosted by the National 

Center for State Courts (NCSC), with joint support from 

the Conference of State Court Administrators (COSCA) 

and the National Association for Court Management 

(NACM), continues to update content related to the Developing Standardized Definitions and Counting Rules for 

Cases with Self-Represented Litigants project (SJI-12-P084). 

The most recent update now includes a brochure available 

online, or in hard copy, by request to the CSP. 

Additional plans to further initiate and disseminate content 

through the site include: 1) a blog about the project authored by the Self-Represented Litigant Network (SRLN); 

2) links to various SRL resource and stakeholder sites and 

products of interest; and, 3) new features on this topic. 

CSP Develops Brochure and 

Enhances SRL Project Website 

Call for E-SJI News 

Articles 

SJI is always interested in news 

article proposals from its grantees 

and other stakeholders. Articles of 

500 words or less from projects 

that are either: a) ongoing, with 

information to share; or, b) have 

recently completed and could be 

beneficial to a larger state court 

audience, are of greatest interest. 

SJI reserves the right to edit all 

submissions for any reason. 

Submissions, including all article 

content in Microsoft Word, images 

or logos, and any links, should be 

emailed to kathryn.tuck@sji.gov by 

the 15th of each month.