NACM NATIONAL AGENDA ON THE COURT MANAGEMENT PROFESSION …

        NACM NATIONAL AGENDA ON THE COURT MANAGEMENT PROFESSION                                           1
                              2005 - 2010

                        NACM OFFICERS AND BOARD OF DIRECTORS

Overview

As a leading voice for those managing courts both in the US and abroad, NACM
has a responsibility to speak out for court improvement and to lead the way
toward better justice and exemplary public service. To that end the NACM
Officers and Board announce a National Agenda on the Court Management
Profession 2005 ­ 2010.

The Agenda promotes the enhancement of court management in limited,
specialized and general jurisdiction trial courts and supports strong, independent
impartial judiciaries world ­ wide. The Agenda has six interwoven components:

    ·    Professional Court Management Education: Two Levels

    ·    Funding of State Court Systems and Trial Courts

    ·    Caseflow Management Improvements

    ·    Public Perceptions of the Courts and Community
         Collaboration

    ·    Judiciary, Executive and Legislative Relationships

    ·    Court System and Trial Court Governance

The Process of Building the NACM National Agenda

The NACM Agenda reflects the collective views of the NACM members and is
the direct result of a two ­ year thirteen-step process that engaged NACM
colleagues and others before, during and after the 2004 and 2005 NACM Mid
Year and Annual Conferences.1

NACM began in late 2003 with a call for ideas and workshop topics in the Court
Communique and Court Manager. The request was for help in identifying and
defining the Issues and Relationships that should shape NACM's future. An
initial list of topics were then discussed, evaluated and refined by two focus
groups at the 2004 NACM Annual Conference in Grapevine, Texas:




1
 These activities and the National Agenda will be more completely described in an upcoming issue of the
Court Manager.


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        NACM NATIONAL AGENDA ON THE COURT MANAGEMENT PROFESSION                                     2
                              2005 - 2010

                        NACM OFFICERS AND BOARD OF DIRECTORS

    ·    A pre conference gathering of state association presidents representing
         14 states at the yearly NACM Leadership Seminar resulted in an initial list
         of 28 subjects, which were prioritized.

    ·    Based on the work at the Leadership Seminar the list was expanded to 34
         and ranked during a Past Presidents Chat led by Zelda DeBoyes four
         days later during the NACM 2004 Annual Conference.

Following refinement of the results from the 2004 NACM Annual there was
extensive review at the 2005 Mid Year in Biloxi, Mississippi through plenary
presentations, workshops and surveys. The process was then carried into the
2005 NACM Annual Conference via a pre conference briefing paper2 and
another round of workshops and surveys. At it's Fall 2005 meeting in Fort
Lauderdale the NACM Officers and Board settled on a six-topic the National
Agenda to guide the educational, policy and research activities of the Association
over the next five years.

Work on the agenda also included an evaluation of other national meetings and
the announced plans of key judicial improvement groups including the National
Center for State Courts, the American Bar Association, the American Judicature
Society, the National Judicial College, the Conference of State Court
Administrators, the National Association of State Judicial Educators and the U.S.
Department of Justice.3

The Six Priorities Briefly Defined

1. Professional Court Management Education: Two Levels

 Level I Definition: Effective delivery of professional adult judicial branch
education by national, regional, state and trial court providers for leadership
judges, court managers and senior staff focused by the ten NACM Core
Competencies.

Level II Definition: College-level educational programs with bachelors or masters
degree academic rigor training students in the art and science of managing
courts and conferring on graduates a recognized certificate or degree of
distinction.

2. Funding of State Court Systems and Trial Courts



2
  See Note 1 supra and the pre 2005 Annual Conference briefing paper prepared by Geoff Gallas and
Gordon Griller, Toward a NACM National Agenda: From Critique to Consensus to Action
3
  For more detail see the Appendices to the Gallas Griller paper, note 2 infra.


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       NACM NATIONAL AGENDA ON THE COURT MANAGEMENT PROFESSION                   3
                             2005 - 2010

                     NACM OFFICERS AND BOARD OF DIRECTORS

Definition: Proven and promising strategies and techniques to maximize
appropriations through high quality governance, accountability, wise use of tax
dollars and ingenuity in doing business in new, cost effective ways.

3. Caseflow Management Improvements

Definition: Building upon well - digested and reliable research and experience
and help court leaders improve caseflow management through creative,
impartial, independent, just, and timely case processing and resolution.

4. Public Perceptions of the Courts and Community Collaboration

Definition: Increase public understanding of and satisfaction with the courts by
connecting with the community in meaningful, informative ways, demystifying the
judicial branch, and enhancing public trust and confidence.

5. Judiciary, Executive and Legislative Relationships

Definition: Promoting proven methods and techniques to establish and maintain
healthy, effective, and mutually respectful relationships among the three
branches of government at the state and local level.

6. Court System and Trial Court Governance

Definition: Organizing, leading and governing the judicial branch to achieve
effectiveness through a team environment and smooth, respectful, healthy
operations (includes Trial Court Leadership Teams, AOC and Trial Court
Relationships, Succession Planning, Organizational Development and Wellness,
and Justice System Relationships).

Where We Go From Here 2005 ­ 2010

There are a number of pathways (means) to realizing our Agenda. They require
NACM to lead by example and to take some calculated risks in:

   ·    Partnering with Others;

   ·    Building Intellectual Capital; and,

   ·    Planning a high impact 4th National Symposium on Court Management at
        the Time and Place of the 2010 NACM Annual Conference.




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     NACM NATIONAL AGENDA ON THE COURT MANAGEMENT PROFESSION                          4
                           2005 - 2010

                    NACM OFFICERS AND BOARD OF DIRECTORS

The NACM Officer who will lead this effort from now until 2010 when he will be
the NACM Past President is Marcus Reinkensmeyer, our Secretary Treasurer
and, until very recently, the Editor of the Court Manager.

A critical step will involve reaching out to other organizations and inviting their
participation in shaping and implementing the NACM National Agenda. Prime
candidates include, but are not limited to, the National Center for State Courts
and it's Institute for Court Management; the Conference of Chief Justices, the
Conference of State Court Administrators; the National Judicial College; the
American Judges Association; the U.S. Department of Justice and the National
Association of State Judicial Educators.

As NACM moves toward the 4th National Symposium we will build intellectual
capital through briefing papers to be published in the Court Manager and
elsewhere concerning each of the six programmatic areas. A first round of
papers - - no longer than ten single spaced pages -- will define the terrain, review
what we already know and have accomplished and, most importantly, outline
how we can advance the profession.

Work on the NACM National Agenda on the Court Management Profession will
culminate at the 4th National Symposium on Court Management to be held at the
2010 NACM Annual Conference. The first three National Symposia held in San
Diego in 1981, Phoenix in 1990 and Atlanta in 2000 included papers from
retained researchers and consultants and as well as other contributions
submitted in response to a call for papers, which were included in published
Conference proceedings. We will continue that tradition. But we want to add
value and new perspectives rather than merely replicate and repeat established
understandings.

With this Announcement we invite and encourage your feedback on our plans,
your ideas about the substance of the Agenda, the proposed process from this
point forward and, most important, your interest in becoming involved.

Please communicate with us through email to our consultant: Geoff Gallas at
gsgallas@aol.com.




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