Volume 25, No. 2 November 2014 

E-SJI NEWS SJI NEWS

In this Issue 

Page 1 

SJI Receives First Quarter 

FY 2015 Grant Applications 

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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. 

SJI received 22 grant applications requesting a total 

of $1,410,671 for the first quarter of FY 2015. The 

Board of Directors will meet on December 8, 2014 

to consider these applications. 

Applicants seeking SJI funding are asked to consider 

projects that address one or more of SJI's Priority 

Investment Areas. As always, SJI encourages applicants to contact SJI staff prior to, and during, the 

development of their grant applications with any 

questions. Applicants are also required to review the 

FY 2015 Grant Guideline, and research prior work 

NACM Announces Update to 

Core Competencies 

The National Association for Court Management

recently announced an update of its core competencies - The Core. Through the support provided by 

the State Justice Institute (SJI), the Core is now 

available online (SJI-11-I-165). 

The Core tag line, “Strengthening Court Professionals,” defines NACM's goal in updating its core competencies. NACM's approach provides a roadmap to 

the profession—from the foundational knowledge of 

the enduring principles that every individual working 

in the court system should possess, to the more complex and advanced areas required to be an effective 

court professional. 

As such, the Core is organized into three modules: 

Principles, Practice, and Vision. Within each are 

competencies that describe what court professionals 

on their issue using the NCSC Digital Archive 

(eCollection), where all grant reports produced after 

2010 by SJI grantees are archived. 

SJI Grant funding remains available on a first-come, 

first-served, basis for grant applications that 

merit funding. Deadlines for the remainder of FY 

2015 are as follows: 2nd quarter – February 1, 2015; 

3rd quarter – May 1, 2015; and 4th quarter – August 

1, 2015. 

need to know within the diverse field of court administration while promoting excellence in the administration of justice. 

1st Quarter - FY 2015 

Grant Applications 

1 

NACM Core 

Competencies 

1 

High Performance 

Court Strategic 

Planning 

2 

Self-Help Remote 

Services Programs 

2-3 
Page 2 

The Self-Represented Litigation Network

(SRLN) and the National Center for State 

Courts (NCSC) are assessing the development 

of programs to provide services to selfrepresented litigants through remote technology (SJI-14-P-081). This project currently 

involves five participating court systems (CA, 

UT, AL, MD, and MN), and one large trial 

court in California (Orange County). 

local court-sponsored remote/virtual service 

delivery processes for assisting selfrepresented litigants, in addition to three programs from other access to justice entities, 

such as legal service organizations. This 

phase will observe and gather cost/benefit 

information on these existing programs and 

produce a resource handbook describing their 

business models, technology infrastructures, 

and strengths/weaknesses. The resource 

E-SJI News Volume 25, No. 2 November 2014 

SJI frequently receives Technical Assistance 

(TA) grant requests for strategic planning. 

These applications address a myriad of 

changes that have occurred within the court, 

among the courts and its partners, and the 

demographics of the community. Frequently, 

these applications address multiple SJI Priority 

Investment Areas, such as providing access to 

justice for self-represented litigants and limited English proficient court users. Recently, 

two jurisdictions already utilizing the High 

Performance Court (HPC) Framework completed a strategic planning process. 

High Performance Court Strategic Planning 

The Mohave County Courts (SJI-13-T-020) 

unveiled its 2014—2018 Strategic Plan earlier 

this year, which revised an existing document 

and process that was five years in the making. 

With assistance from the NCSC, the Strategic 

Planning Committee, including representatives 

from the Superior Court, Justice Court, Clerk, 

probation, and county administration, collaborated on a cohesive vision to meet the needs of 

the community. 

Using the HPC Self-Assessment that addresses 

ten core areas of court performance, the SPC 

identified areas for improvement in the new 

plan. Five “Strategic Pillars” for the Mohave 

Courts were identified including: serving the 

public; delivering timely justice; court access, 

facilities, and infrastructure; engaged staff; 

and community collaboration and outreach. 

Results of the assessment, detailed descriptions of the pillars, and guidance regarding 

implementation are included in the final report. The Mohave County Courts Strategic 

Plan is available through the NCSC Digital 

Library. 

The Superior Court of the U.S. Virgin Islands (SJI-13-T-087), which includes operations in the Divisions of St. Thomas, St. John, 

and St. Croix, began utilizing the HPC Framework following their implementation of CourTools over five years ago. 

Utilizing the same format, judicial, administrative, and human resources leadership from the 

Court collaborated to establish three principal 

objectives, including, access and fairness for 

the community, delivering timely justice, and 

employee satisfaction. The strategic plan includes: the Court’s mission, vision, and action 

steps; the process used to develop the plan and 

disseminate the HPC Self-Assessment; and, 

recommendations from the Access and Fairness Task Force. 

National Assessment on Remote Services Delivery 

to Self-Represented Litigants 

The project will consist of two phases: An 

assessment of five states that have state or 

Continued on page 3 
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 25, No. 2 November 2014 

handbook will be helpful to other states seeking to develop these types of programs. 

The development of a full service pilot “triage 

portal” will serve as a single point of entry to 

legal information and services for selfrepresented litigants. The portal will help 

individuals assess their legal issues and needs, 

directing them to the most appropriate service 

for their case using established triage protocols. The protocols were developed under a 

previous SJI grant (SJI-12-P-085). The pilot 

portal will be conducted in one of the jurisdictions involved in the study of current remote 

services delivery programs, and will incorporate the best practices identified in that study. 

Maryland, which is one of the five states 

evaluated by this project, integrated successful 

self-help services for persons appearing without lawyers in the Circuit Courts of Maryland 

beginning in 2009. The Maryland judicial 

branch established a pilot project in the Glen 

Burnie District Court to provide assistance to 

persons appearing without lawyers in Maryland’s limited jurisdictions courts. 

The project evaluation, completed in 2012, 

showed that the project helped over 7,000 

litigants during its first eighteen months – 

primarily in debtor/creditor and landlord/

tenant cases. It demonstrated effectiveness in 

1) clarifying case specifics, paperwork, and 

obligations; 2) assisting litigants in determining which court forms are needed and how to 

fill them out; 3) focusing litigants on those 

elements of a claim that can reasonably be 

addressed through the court; 4) listening to 

litigant experiences and concerns and responding to litigant questions; and 5) assessing case 

complexity and referring litigants for additional legal assistance when appropriate. The 

evaluation concluded that the project was 

meeting its objective of greater understanding 

and engagement of litigants about the case and 

improved chances for judgments being based 

on merits and rights, rather than on default. 

Based on this positive evaluation, the program 

was expanded to assist District Court litigants 

statewide by delivering the services by telephone, chat, and email. The service is operated by attorneys working via a contract between the Administrative Office of the Courts 

and Maryland Legal Aid. Persons needing 

help with District Court cases throughout the 

state are referred to the self-help hotline and 

receive assistance by phone, email, or online 

chat. 

This is one of several state court programs 

using telephone, videoconference, online chat 

technology, text messages, and email to provide information to persons representing themselves in court cases, or seeking information 

about how to initiate such cases. 

Maryland’s experience is critical to informing 

the national assessment project. 

Continued from page 2