The State Bar Association of North Dakota Summer 2013 Gavel Magazine | Page 18

VANDEWALLE HIGHLIGHTS ENERGY IMPACT, RURAL JUSTICE, MEDIATION AT STATE OF THE JUDICIARY ADDRESS
been authorized on a proposed Appellate Rule 5 to establish an Appellate Mediation Program. “This program will offer litigants anticipating an appeal the opportunity to participate in mediation at no charge to them.” He said it differs from the family law mediation program at the trial court level because it includes probate as well as family cases; it is available prior to the actual filing of an appeal; and parties can opt out of the program if certain conditions are met. Appellate mediation has a good track record in courts that have been using it, he said, with a national settlement rate at around 50 percent. “This saves time and money for all parties in a case. But, as with our district court mediation program, our motivation and our primary goal is to minimize family conflict,” he said. “When we close the book on a court case, we leave behind the families involved in those cases. We don’t create the conflicts that come to our courts, but the process used to resolve those conflicts should not exacerbate them. No one wins when the price of a decision is a family no longer willing to communicate.” VandeWalle said 70 recommendations were presented to the Court following the work of a task force that for the past several years has examined the courts for racial and ethnic bias. A new Minority Justice Implementation Committee will develop a strategic plan to implement the recommendations of the task force and monitor their progress. He said the transition to mandatory electronic filing and service for all documents except initial pleadings in criminal and juvenile cases has gone smoothly. “Electronic records benefit both the court and the bar,” he said. “We live in an information-driven world and work in a profession that relies on fast, accurate information. Fingertip access to documents and nearly simultaneous notice of filing of documents is something many have grown accustomed to. Indeed, for the younger and newer lawyers that is the norm.” For two years prior to the adoption of the rule requiring electronic filing, VandeWalle said the Court encouraged voluntary participation. “I am grateful to the many lawyers who took the initiative to know the system and use it, but that left a large number of lawyers who did not.” He said the resulting unprecedented backlogs in the clerk’s offices meant delays in getting vital information and documents circulated. “It takes all of us working together to create a system that benefits everyone,” he said. “Change is often a painful process but I am thankful that in North Dakota we have a history of working together to improve our system.” VandeWalle said the Court is adding a citizen access coordinator to its staff to support self-represented litigants, which last year totaled more than 1,700 people representing themselves in civil, family and juvenile cases. Another 6,500 represented themselves in felony, misdemeanor and infraction cases. “These are numbers that we could not have imagined 15 years ago when courts first started to see an increasing number of people representing themselves.” He said recommendations by the Judicial Planning Commission to consider the current judicial districts and make re-districting are out for comment. “The last time there was a major realignment of the districts was in 1979, shortly after I came to the bench,” he said. “It is time to give them a fresh review. The three new judges authorized by the Legislature will help to alleviate the increasing workload caused in great part by our flourishing economy. One of the goals of the review is to bring the caseloads per judge into a better balance.” A rule has been adopted by the Court giving the Supreme Court the authority to declare a judicial emergency. If declared, the Court can suspend, toll, extend or otherwise grant relief from deadlines and schedules. “We have had to take this action before, in 1997 and 2011, on an ad hoc basis using the inherent power of the judiciary to manage the court system,” said VandeWalle. “This rule formalizes the process and will allow us to suspend statutes of limitations, designate temporary venues, and close courthouses in an orderly fashion. Now that we have a formal process in the statutes and in our rules, we hope we will not have to use it.”

Chief Justice VandeWalle presents State of the Judiciary Address at 2013 Annual Meeting.

In the State of the Judiciary address he presents at every SBAND Annual Meeting, Chief Justice Gerald VandeWalle highlighted a number of issues, including energy impact, rural justice and mediation. He praised the work of the Energy Impact Task Force and the efforts of SBAND President Gail Hagerty and Task Force Chair Jack McDonald for compiling a report that was presented to Governor Dalrymple and the legislators prior to the Legislative Assembly. “The report was widely discussed in the media and effectively ‘set the table’ in that the needs for additional judges and employees was well known and accepted by the time we made our appearances to support those requests,” he said. He also praised President Hagerty for her efforts to design and champion a new Rural Law Clerk Program. “At her suggestion, we included in our budget request and received some legislative funding for the proposal.” v?&???rv?F?F?RT?B66?????b?r?f?FUv??R6?BF?R6?W'Bv???W7F&?6?WF?F?&VR?BF?7G&?7B6?W'B?r6?W&???FW&?6??2W"?V"???FW&?2v???&R?6VBv?F?'W&??VFvW26W'f??r6???V??F?W2?b?W72F??R??( ?'W&?6???V??F?W2&R??6??rGF?&?W?2???#"?F?W&RvW&Rf?W"6?V?F?W2F?B?B??GF?&?W?2B???6??v?F??????RGF?&?W??B??F?W"V?v?B6?V?F?W2v?F????Gv?GF?&?W?2?( ?F?RW'?6R?bF?R'W&???FW&?6??&?w&??2F?V?6?W&vR?r66????7GVFV?G2F?6??6?FW"&7F?6??r??6???6???V??F?W2?( ?'???f?F??rF?V???F?F?R6???V??G?2??V?rGV?G2?F?v?&???&?fW76????66?G??vR??RF?W?v????fRW'7V7F?fR??'W&??fR?BF?R???&V?Vf?G2F?B6??Rv?F??f??r??6??6R???B6?6?WG??B&V??rf?VVB'B?bF?R??6?6???V??G????6?VF??rF?R'W6??W726???V??G??( ??R6?B?f?FUv??R6?B??F?6R?b6???V?B?0??`??F?RvfV?7V??W"#0??