Case Management Work Group

July 23, 2000

Workgroup Members Present: Judge Michael Donohue, chair; Judge William Downing; Judge Gerald Knight; Judge Jeff Tolman; Rep. Luke Esser; Nettie Jungers; Nancy Jewett; Yolande Williams; Bob Carlberg; Diane Oberquell; Gloria Hintze; Linda Storck, Pam Daniels

Guests: Kirk Johns for Steve Toole, Paul Steere, Comm. Glenn Phillips, Stacy Connole, Betty Gould, Pat McIntyre

Staff: Yvonne Pettus

Welcome/Introductions

Judge Donohue introduced himself and welcomed the workgroup members. Workgroup members introduced themselves.

The workgroup reviewed the minutes of the June 23, 2000 meeting. The workgroup also reviewed the minutes of the other Project 2001 workgroups.

Case Management Reports

Judge Donohue discussed the principles of case management. Bob Carlberg discussed the enhancements to the superior court caseflow management reports included in the materials. The six enhancements suggested are as follows.

1. Break domestic relations time standards into two categories: with children and all other causes of action;
2. Develop a time standards report by judge that would be available for courts that use an individual calendar system;
3. Display the statewide average on the published Time Standards report;
4. Display the statewide average on the Pending Caseload report;
5. Display the statewide average on the Age of Pending Caseload report; and
6. Provide the ability to display the above information in a graphical form.

The workgroup discussed the recommendations. It is recommended that the Time Standards, Pending Caseload, and Age of Pending Caseload reports be available by judge. It is recommended that the Courts of Limited Jurisdiction Case Management project be given a high priority by JIS. It is recommended that a committee be formed to develop caseflow and case management report and a mechanism be developed to share BRIO queries.

Discovery Cut-off Rule

Kirk Johns discussed the issue and importance of discovery cut-off dates. He described the proposed draft rule included in the materials. He indicated that the rule has not been reviewed by the WSBA Court Rules and Procedures Committee or the Board of Governors. The workgroup discussed the rule and with minor modifications, recommended it be included as a recommendation to the Project 2001 Committee.

As part of the federal Civil Justice Reform Act, every federal district court had to conduct a study of the cases pending and develop a plan to reduce the backlog. Judge Donohue suggested that a similar analysis be done for every court in Washington.

Dismissals

Pam Daniels distributed a handout of Arizona rules relating to dismissals for lack of prosecution. The rules provide that a case can be dismissed if no service is made within 120 days of filing. Also, cases in which no certificate of readiness has been filed within 9 months of the filing date are placed on an inactive calendar and cases that are on the inactive calendar for 2 months are dismissed.

Expanded Use of Pro Tem Judges

The workgroup discussed the proposed change in the constitution and statute regarding use of retired superior court judges, use of elected judges from other court levels, and use of attorneys as pro tem judges without requiring the consent of the parties. The workgroup made several suggested changes to the proposed constitutional amendment. The workgroup questioned whether the resource was really needed. The workgroup agreed that courts should have flexibility to use resources across jurisdictions. The option of creating a senior status designation was also discussed.

Use of Excess Law Library Funds

Diane Oberquell reported that Thurston County has excess funds in the law library account and would like to be able to use the funds for the courthouse facilitator program. Other workgroup members reported their counties did not have excess law library funds.

Pro Se Self Help Center

Betty Gould reported on the self help center in Thurston County. She is getting the information about the center out to other county clerks.

Judge Donohue and Yvonne will draft a report and circulate it for comment. Judge Donohue thanked the members of the workgroup for their participation and input. He also stressed the need to examine the fiscal impact of any of the recommendations made by the workgroup.

The meeting was adjourned.