President’s Column Volume 53 - 91

Authors

Date of this Version

2017

Citation

Court Review, Volume 53, Issue 3 (2017)

Comments

Copyright American Judges Association. Used by permission.

Abstract

I am honored to join our distinguished line of American Judges Association presidents, and I congratulate you on getting and reading another wonderful edition of Court Review, one of the crown jewels of AJA. This journal has changed my own practice, always for the better. For example, I now offer “high-touch” management to lawyers in my complex civil cases, based on an article in a past issue. (See David Prince, A New Model for Case Management: Efficiency Through Intrinsic Engagement, 50 CT. REV. 174 (2014).) The lawyers love this approach, and it streamlines case handling even in the most difficult cases. Although the Board of Editors’ membership is changing, with a smooth transition managed by Judge Steve Leben, we know the quality of this journal will continue.

I just returned from our annual conference in Cleveland, Ohio. We were honored to hear inspiring addresses by Ohio Chief Justice Maureen O’Connor, Ohio Congresswoman Marcia Fudge, and, at our American Judges Foundation luncheon, featured speaker U.S. Senator Sherrod Brown. Highlights of the educational program, ably planned by Judge Eugene Lucci and Judge Gayle Williams-Byers, included Dean Erwin Chemerinsky’s fabulous constitutional-law update, wonderful plenaries on cutting-edge issues (including judicial independence and addressing unfair fines and fees), as well as a lawand-literature presentation by outstanding author Joe Starita. We also had a huge variety of top-notch choice sessions, on topics like how self-help centers can improve court litigation, new approaches to court technology, dealing with jury bias, an elder law and guardianship update, approaches to wrongful-death lawsuits in police-shooting cases, ways to provide procedural and pretrial justice in adult and juvenile court, tips on high-profile cases, and ways to handle life beyond the bench. Our family members joined us at Mr. Starita’s plenary, and also attended an excellent presentation on the Judicial Family Network program.