EDUCATION & TRAINING
Some 2,000 federal judge participants, 11,000 court staff participants, and 845 federal defender and staff participants received orientation and continuing education through traditional seminars and local education programs in 2003. (Each participation by a judge or court employee is included, so some individuals are counted more than once.) In addition, an estimated 18,000 judges and staff participated in Center programs broadcast on the Federal Judicial Television Network (FJTN). (The Center conducts monthly surveys to estimate FJTN viewership.) Face-to-face conferences, seminars, and workshops continue to be the primary vehicle for education for federal judges. Most court staff, however, participate in Center-produced distance education programs, such as local training events in their own courts using materials provided by the Center, FJTN broadcasts, on-line conferences and other forms of computer-based and Web-based training, audioconferences, and videoconferences. More than 80% of the estimated 32,000 participants in Center educational programs received some form of distance education in their courts.

Education Programs for Judges and Legal Staff
Programs that judges attend in person include orientation seminars for new appointees, periodic national and circuit-based workshops, and small seminars devoted to specific topics.

Continuing education programs in 2003 for court of appeals and district judges, held by circuit, provided updates and analysis on such topics as intellectual property, sentencing, evidence, employment discrimination, terrorism and the law, habeas corpus, electronic discovery, and international law. National workshops for bankruptcy judges included sessions on judicial ethics, Chapter 11 practices nationwide, getting performance feedback, privacy issues in bankruptcy, and consumer bankruptcy law. National workshops for magistrate judges examined the Patriot Act, sealing settlement agreements, ethics, international law, and attorney-client privilege and the work-product doctrine.

The Center’s conference for chief district judges, conducted in cooperation with the Administrative Office, emphasized the chief judge’s leadership and management responsibilities. An executive institute for chief district judges and unit executives applied lessons of leadership from President Lincoln’s experiences during the Civil War to contemporary court management.

Seminars on particular subjects for small groups of judges usually last two or three days. Special-topic seminars in 2003 included programs on mediation skills, employment law, environmental law, section 1983 litigation, international law and litigation, intellectual property, law and science, law and society, and the Harold R. Medina seminar on the humanities and science. Many of these programs are conducted in collaboration with law schools or other educational institutions.

Programs for federal defender personnel and Criminal Justice Act panel attorneys included a writing workshop with emphasis on appellate representation. A workshop for circuit mediators focused on mediating employment cases, successful communication techniques, attorney–client conflicts, and avoiding the pitfalls of routinization.

The Center introduced its Program for Consultations in Dispute Resolution, which provides on-site consultations to district and bankruptcy courts seeking assistance with their ADR programs. Judges and court staff who have substantial ADR expertise provide the consultations. A grant from the Hewlett Foundation to the Federal Judicial Center Foundation supports the costs of the program.

Broadcasts on the judicial branch’s television network, the FJTN, augment the Center’s education programming. The annual review of the Supreme Court term analyzed cases on topics such as the First Amendment, habeas corpus, civil liberties, prisoners’ rights, arbitration, and copyright and trademark law. Other FJTN programs for judges and legal staff included periodic updates on bankruptcy law, an orientation for new law clerks, and basics of employment law for law clerks.

The Center’s video program An Introduction to the Patent System provides an alternative (should judges wish to use it) to expert testimony for jurors on how the patent system works. It is now available for download from the Center’s intranet and Internet sites. Another video, Preserving the Trust: Ethics and Federal Judges, introduces new judges to the Code of Conduct for U.S. Judges and examines ethical issues that arise most frequently.

Working with a board of editors, the Center completed a new, fourth edition of its Manual for Complex Litigation. ALI-ABA, a continuing education organization of the American Law Institute and the American Bar Association, conducted special programs in Washington, D.C. and San Diego to introduce the new manual to judges and attorneys. The Center also completed a guide and related materials to help judges manage capital habeas appeals from state courts, which joins a similar compilation and summary of procedures used in handling federal death penalty cases. Both are available on the intranet (jnet.fjc.dcn) and Internet (www.fjc.gov).

Other judicial and legal education publications released or in production in 2003 were: Revisions to the Benchbook for U.S. District Court Judges, Fourth Edition will be distributed in early 2004.

Education & Training Programs for Court Staff
Appellate, District, and Bankruptcy Court Programs
Working with court staff, the Center has developed an on-line tutorial that courts can customize to teach attorneys how to file criminal case documents electronically on the federal judiciary’s new Case Management/Electronic Case Filing (CM/ECF) system. Another computer-assisted training program, on the Federal Rules of Bankruptcy Procedure, was updated to include changes to the rules and bankruptcy code as of December 2002 and is available on the courts’ intranet (jnet.fjc.dcn) and on the Internet (www.fjc.gov).

FJTN broadcasts in 2003 helped judges and ADR administrators learn how to use mediation and allowed appellate case administrators to share effective case-closing processes with their colleagues. Deputy clerks from district and bankruptcy courts studied the impact of technology on caseflow management during separate on-line conferences.

Sentencing and Probation and Pretrial Services Programs
The Center’s new officer checklist, reference guides, and week-long national orientation seminars—six in 2003—help new probation and pretrial services officers during their first year on the job.

A variety of distance education programs provide continuing education for all officers. For example, FJTN programs, some produced in collaboration with the Administrative Office or the U.S. Sentencing Commission, described recent changes to the standards for supervising federal offenders and defendants, dealt with economic crimes, money laundering, and Guideline amendments, and offered information on supervising offenders and defendants with mental disorders (supplemented by an updated intranet reference guide on therapeutic and supervision practices, new medications, and national and local mental health associations). The FJTN series on officer safety added segments on strategies for planning home contacts and dealing with personal confrontations with supervisees.

For more than a decade, the Center has developed curriculum packages with instructor and participant guides and other materials to increase the number of in-district training options and reach more court employees. The Center expanded this concept in 2003 by pilot-testing a project to teach probation and pretrial services staff how to develop curricula in subjects in which they have expertise, including writing skills, testifying in court, interviewing defendants and offenders, and organizing work.

Court Management Programs
Executive management programs for teams of judges and court managers included the executive institute and a workshop for chief district judges and clerks of court on building effective management teams. Two workshops with the Administrative Office helped judges and staff from district and bankruptcy courts manage capital construction projects. Senior court executives and mid-level managers participated in leadership institutes, and experienced chief probation and pretrial services officers provided guidance to new chiefs through a new audioconference series.

Biennial national conferences for appellate clerks and chief deputies, and for bankruptcy clerks, chief deputies, bankruptcy administrators and bankruptcy appellate panel clerks, included sessions on legal and fiscal responsibilities, technological innovations, and leadership and management challenges and initiatives.

The Center’s multi-year advanced leadership development programs are neither guarantees of promotion nor prerequisites for promotion, but they help court employees prepare for positions of increasing responsibility. The sixth class of the program for probation and pretrial services officers completed its three-year course in 2003. The fourth class of the program for managers and specialists in clerks’, senior staff attorneys’, and circuit librarians’ offices attended a mid-program workshop.

New distance education resources for court managers included a curriculum package on strategic planning for information technology; an audioconference and a video, print, and audio package on managing the human impact of downsizing; and several book reviews on leadership topics. FJTN programs described best practices for motivating staff, approaches to succession planning, and how to develop or enhance essential leadership skills.

To refine the Center’s strategic plan for court staff education and training, Center senior managers met with twenty-five court unit executives and deputies, Administrative Office representatives, and a member of the Judicial Conference Court Administration and Case Management Committee’s Subcommittee on Long-Range Planning to identify constants and trends that may affect the federal courts in the near future.

Court Trainers’ Programs
The Center works closely with court personnel who serve as trainers for their units. New trainers were invited to participate in orientation videoconferences and other multi-session videoconferences on developing and coordinating training programs. New resources for court trainers included a curriculum package on how to develop a CM/ECF training plan and enhancements to the court training and court operations exchanges on the Center’s site on the courts’ intranet.

Other Court Education Programs
Center FJTN programs for court-wide audiences examined leadership styles for staff who aspire to be supervisors, how to build and sustain collaborative work teams, and how to deal with upset lawyers and litigants. Four broadcasts of the Court to Court television magazine program featured lessons learned or innovative procedures developed by individual court units. A new curriculum package offered instruction on building trust in the workplace.

See a table of all 2003 seminars and workshops by category
See a list of FJC Advisory Committees in 2003