The Improvement of the Administration of Justice, Eighth Edition is divided into six sections: The Judicial System, Judicial Officers, Court Operations, Case Presentation, Specialized Courts, and Serving the Community. While these topics could be seen as being broad, with each of section being  a volume of its own, the new edition brings the focus back to the administration of justice and how it can be improved.

The first section of the book gives an overview of the system focusing on the importance of judicial independence; exploring how the courts can and should improve their governance; and the roles of courts, judges, and bar leaders in the improvement of the administration of justice. It closes with a look at the funding sources for courts and how they can be sustained. The second section looks at judges, focusing on their ethical responsibility and how they are evaluated, educated, and selected. It also takes a look at magistrates and other types of appointed officers and their unique role. The third section is truly the meat of the book and attempts to cover every aspect of the operational side of courts. The fourth section focuses on what goes on in the courtroom and addresses issues such as the growth in self-represented litigants, e-discovery, the judge's role in the admission of scientific evidence, jury trials, sentencing, and the importance of civility. Section five gives an overview of a number of different types of court. Every court does something unique and may provide insight on new ways of handling cases that can be borrowed by other courts. The final section is on serving the community--how we reach out and communicate and how we deal with the people we are serving through community correction and evaluations and treatment.

The court system is going through a time of immense change. It has only recently emerged from a period of devastating budget cuts and underfunding brought on by the recent recession. It is almost axiomatic that when court funding is being cut, there is so much turmoil within society that the workload of the courts increases. This is what most courts experienced. It creates more pressure on the courts to operate as efficiently and as effectively as possible, even when their staff is cut and their doors are even shuttered. Many of those lessons are incorporated in this volume.

The objective of the editors and authors is that this compendium will continue to be an essential and vital resource for judges, court administrators, lawyers, and all others interested in the continued improvement of our justice system.

Table of Contents

PART I – THE JUDICIAL SYSTEM
Chapter 1. Empowered and Independent Courts - Peter M. Koelling
Chapter 2. Governing in the Judicial Branch: Trust, Transparency, and Teamwork - Mary C. McQueen
Chapter 3. The Role of Courts in a Democracy - Hon. Paul De Muniz
Chapter 4. The Role of Judicial Leaders in the Administration of Justice - Hon. Mark D. Martin
Chapter 5. Bench-Bar Relations in Judicial Administration - Hon. Pamila Brown
Chapter 6. Court Funding in the 21st Century: Structure, Advocacy, and Stewardship - Carolyn A. Dubay
PART II – JUDICIAL OFFICERS
Chapter 7. Judicial Ethics in the United States - Marla N. Greenstein
Chapter 8. Judicial Conduct Commissions: Rules and Variations - Cynthia Gray
Chapter 9. Judicial Performance Evaluation - Malia Reddick and Hon. Rebecca Love Kourlis
Chapter 10. Judicial Education: A Brief History, Trends, and Opportunities - William Brunson and Hon. Chad Schmucker
Chapter 11. Selecting State Court Judges - Hon. Russell Carparelli
Chapter 12. Magistrate Judges and Other Non-Article III Judges in the Federal Courts - Peter McCabe
PART III – COURT OPERATIONS
Chapter 13. The Role of the Administrator: Half a Century in the Making - David Slayton
Chapter 14. The Road to Court Excellence: Performance Measures to Performance Management - Daniel J. Hall
Chapter 15. Time Standards - Peter M. Koelling
Chapter 16. Leveraging Employee Engagement for a High Performance Court - Demetra Estephana Treviño Koelling
Chapter 17. Technology and Case-Management Systems - James Pauli
Chapter 18. Financial Management of Courts - Alan Carlson
Chapter 19. Caseflow Management - Peter M. Koelling
Chapter 20. The Courthouse of the Future: A Planning and Design Primer for Court Managers and Judges - Nathan Hall
Chapter 21. Administering the Courts in a Time of Criminal Justice Reform - Peter Coolsen and Ali Abid
Chapter 22. Language Access Services - Sunil Mansukhani and Hon. Vanessa Ruiz
Chapter 23. Jury System Management in the 21st Century: A Perfect Storm of Fiscal Necessity and Technological Opportunity - Paula Hannaford-Agor
Chapter 24. Dispute Resolution Processes: Uses and Approaches to Court Processes for Alternative Dispute Resolution in State and Federal Trial Courts - Hon. Christine O.C. Miller
PART IV – CASE PRESENTATION
Chapter 25. The Principles of Civility - Hon. William F. Dressel
Chapter 26. Pro Se Litigation - Deborah Chase
Chapter 27. E-Discovery for the 21st Century and Beyond - Paul Weiner
Chapter 28. The Forensic Sciences and Judicial Gatekeeping: The Role of Judicial Education - Hon. Stephanie Domitrovich
Chapter 29. Jury Principles and the Jury Trial - Hon. William Caprathe
Chapter 30. Sentencing - Kevin Bennardo and Todd Haugh
PART V – SPECIALIZED COURTS
Chapter 31. Looking to the Future of the Appellate Process - Hon. James E. Lockemy
Chapter 32. Article I Federal Courts - Stephen I. Vladeck - Chapter 33 Limited-Jurisdiction Courts Hon. Elizabeth R. Finn
Chapter 34. Family Courts - Hon. Janice M. Rosa
Chapter 35. Juvenile Courts - Kendall Marlowe
Chapter 36. Probate Courts: Trends, Challenges, and Innovations - Alicia Davis, Richard Van Duizend, Hon. Rita Cobb, and Brenda K. Uekert
Chapter 37. Business Courts in the United States: 20 Years of Innovation - Lee Applebaum and Mitchell L. Bach
Chapter 38. Administrative Adjudication in the United States - Hon. James G. Gilbert and Hon. Robert S. Cohen
Chapter 39. Tribal Courts at a Crossroads - Hon. J. Matthew Martin
PART VI - SERVING THE COMMUNITY
Chapter 40. An Overview and Legal Perspective of Community Corrections in the United States - Robert D. Hanser
Chapter 41. Public Information, Media Relations, and the Judiciary: Trends, Challenges, Innovations, Opportunities - David A. Sellers
Chapter 42. Serving the Community: Social Media - Christopher J. Davey and Thomas Hodson
Chapter 43. Mental Health Evaluations and Treatment in the Civil Courts: Current Standards of Practice - John P. Vincent, Ashley K. Stewart, James Ray Hays, and Elizabeth Burris Garner
Chapter 44. Judicial Outreach in U.S. Courts - Hon. Richard L. Fruin, Jr.
Chapter 45. Civics Education - Thomas Vontz and Pauline Weaver