August 2008 Nevada Lawyer

SENIOR JUDGE PROGRAM KEEPS WHEELS OF JUSTICE ROLLING

BY CHIEF JUSTICE MARK GIBBONS

Dealing with Nevada’s overburdened courts has become the norm for attorneys, litigants, businesses and jurors. The strain, however, may ultimately be most acute for the judiciary, which struggles to keep pace with the workload and obligation to resolve legal disputes in a timely manner.

More and more, the Supreme Court’s Senior Judge Program has been called upon to keep the wheels of justice rolling. In the process, the program has saved millions of dollars for taxpayers and untold amounts of money for litigants whose cases otherwise may have languished in the backlog.

The Supreme Court is extremely pleased with the effectiveness of this program. It provides a big bang for the public buck and is a boon to litigants and lawyers because cases get resolved in a timely fashion.

During 2007, senior judges spent nearly 14,000 hours on assignments, and from January through May 2008, seniors were on assignment more than 4,600 hours. That is the equivalent work of nine full-time judges.

Without senior judges, it may have been necessary to add new judges to the bench. Adding a single new judge, however, costs about $1 million, meaning nine new judges would cost $9 million. The senior judges performed the work of nine full-time judges for a little over $2 million.

The Senior Judge Program originally was designed to provide relief in cases where judges were disqualified and no other judge was available. Since then, the program has expanded to make senior judges available for a wide variety of assignments at the district courts, including presiding over drug and mental health courts, short trials and settlements. Senior judges are also assigned for extended durations when the elected judges are occupied with lengthy trials or other matters, or are unavailable to sit because of illness, training or vacation.

The Nevada Supreme Court has also benefited from the Senior Judge Program because of several recent retirements from the high court. The program provided a pool of senior justices to assist in appellate matters when elected justices were unavailable to sit.

One of the most successful aspects of the program involves senior judges conducting settlement conferences and short trials at the Family Court in Clark County.

Every two weeks, a senior judge is assigned to handle Family Court cases that are either ready for settlement or involve parties not represented by counsel. The senior judges work to settle the cases or conduct half-day trials to resolve issues.

Presiding Family Court Judge Art Ritchie says the resolution rate on these cases is nearly 81 percent. More importantly, utilizing senior judges allows many families to complete their divorces and settle child custody issues quickly. Diverting these cases from regular court calendars has allowed the Family Court judges to concentrate on more complex matters.

The success of the senior judges in resolving Family Court cases in Clark County quickly and cost effectively has prompted the District Court in Washoe County to implement a similar system beginning this month.

Parties in a case may request that a senior judge be assigned to conduct a settlement conference. When the parties stipulate to the settlement conference and use of a senior judge, the district judge requests that the Supreme Court make the assignment.

Recently, the program was amended to permit parties to request a specific senior judge. While the final decision on the assignment remains with the Supreme Court, the Senior Judge Program attempts to accommodate the requests when possible.

At the Family Law Conference in Ely in March 2008, attorneys indicated they would like to know when senior judges are scheduled so the attorneys can prepare for the sessions. Because of this, the Supreme Court has launched a calendar accessible by the public on the Administrative Office of the Courts’ Legal Division webpage at:  http://www.nvsupremecourt.us/ccp/legal/. The calendar is updated weekly and shows the duration assignments for each court on a daily basis.

Information about the Senior Judge Program may be obtained from Margaret Evans, the program coordinator, at mevans@nvcourts.nv.gov or (775) 684-1762.