good practice to assign all pending cases against the same defendant (both felonies and misdemeanors) to the same judge, to have all probation violations “trail” a new felony charge, and to ensure that all relevant prior case files are maintained with the file for the current charge. Any person interested in a case is able to find the date of the next scheduled event easily – by looking on the court website, accessing the court database, or calling the clerk’s office. The date of the next event is always confirmed at the close of any hearing At the close of every court hearing or event, the court reminds the parties of the date set for the next one, reaffirming the schedule and reasserting the court’s control over it. If the schedule has become unrealistic, this is the opportunity for one of the parties to bring to the court’s attention the reason compelling a change. Creating and maintaining expectations that events will occur when they are scheduled Effective case management focuses on influencing not only the behavior of the judges and court staff, but the behavior of the attorneys and other criminal justice system participants as well. When lawyers have an expectation that matters will occur when they are scheduled, they subpoena witnesses, they prepare for the hearing or trial, they make sure that the defendant and prosecuting and defense witness are present and prepared, and they assemble needed documents. When the matter is called, they are ready to proceed. When lawyers do not have that expectation – when cases are frequently postponed at the last minute, when judges frequently fail to reach all of the matters set on a calendar, or when incarcerated defendants frequently fail to arrive on time from the jail – the lawyers may have legitimate doubts that their case will go forward, will not prepare, and will not bring or subpoena witnesses. They will be reluctant to invest time and energy – and the time and energy of their clients and witnesses – in an event that may or may not proceed as scheduled. If the matter is called, the lawyer will tell the court that s/he is not prepared to proceed and the matter will have to be rescheduled.
good practice to assign all pending cases against the same defendant (both felonies and misdemeanors) to the same judge, to have all probation violations “trail” a new felony charge, and to ensure that all relevant prior case files are maintained with the file for the current charge. Any person interested in a case is able to find the date of the next scheduled event easily – by looking on the court website, accessing the court database, or calling the clerk’s office. The date of the next event is always confirmed at the close of any hearing At the close of every court hearing or event, the court reminds the parties of the date set for the next one, reaffirming the schedule and reasserting the court’s control over it. If the schedule has become unrealistic, this is the opportunity for one of the parties to bring to the court’s attention the reason compelling a change. Creating and maintaining expectations that events will occur when they are scheduled Effective case management focuses on influencing not only the behavior of the judges and court staff, but the behavior of the attorneys and other criminal justice system participants as well. When lawyers have an expectation that matters will occur when they are scheduled, they subpoena witnesses, they prepare for the hearing or trial, they make sure that the defendant and prosecuting and defense witness are present and prepared, and they assemble needed documents. When the matter is called, they are ready to proceed. When lawyers do not have that expectation – when cases are frequently postponed at the last minute, when judges frequently fail to reach all of the matters set on a calendar, or when incarcerated defendants frequently fail to arrive on time from the jail – the lawyers may have legitimate doubts that their case will go forward, will not prepare, and will not bring or subpoena witnesses. They will be reluctant to invest time and energy – and the time and energy of their clients and witnesses – in an event that may or may not proceed as scheduled. If the matter is called, the lawyer will tell the court that s/he is not prepared to proceed and the matter will have to be rescheduled.
feltrial-rfp-supmanual.docx