EDUCATION & TRAINING
More than 1,900 federal judge participants, 9,800 court staff participants, and over 600 federal defender and staff participants received Center orientation and continuing education through traditional seminars, local education programs, and technology-based conferences in 2004. (Each participation by a judge or court employee is included, so some individuals are counted more than once.) 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, audio conferences, video conferences, and Web-based on-line conferences.

In addition, many more judges and court staff benefited from Center programs broadcast on the Federal Judicial Television Network (FJTN), from other Web-based training programs on the Center's site on the judicial branch's intranet, and from Center monographs and manuals, and video and audio cassettes. We estimate, on the basis of usage patterns from previous years, that 80% or more of the participants in Center educational programs received some form of distance education in their courts. (Although the Center conducted surveys in past years to estimate FJTN viewership, it suspended the surveys in 2004 in part because of a shortage of personnel at the Center and a desire to avoid burdening short-staffed courts with nonessential work. It is impracticable to distinguish the number of actual users of Web-based programs from visitors to the Web site who simply look at such programs or download them for use by multiple staff members.)

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

Continuing education programs in 2004 for district judges included three national workshops that examined recent legislation, such as the USA PATRIOT Act and the PROTECT Act, and provided updates on the Federal Rules of Evidence, Supreme Court decisions, and the application of the Code of Conduct for United States Judges. The workshops also covered management of federal capital cases, immigration law, intellectual property, and case and calendar management under the federal courts' automated Case Management/Electronic Case Files (CM/ECF) system. A national workshop for bankruptcy judges analyzed developments in Chapter 7, 11, and 13 cases and examined the changing role of judges, judging in a diverse society, and the Code of Conduct. A national workshop for magistrate judges provided sessions on search and seizure of computers and computer-stored data, managing electronic discovery disputes in civil cases, the Code of Conduct, and authorizations to collect electronic communications under the USA PATRIOT Act.

Seminars on particular topics for small groups of judges usually last two or three days. Special-topic seminars in 2004 included programs on international litigation, employment law, law and terrorism, mediation skills, law and genetics, law and society; three seminars on law and science; and the Harold Medina Seminar on Humanities and Science. Many of these programs are conducted in collaboration with law schools or other educational institutions.

In addition to seminars to which judges travel, the Center offers several “in-court seminars,” for which faculty travel to up to twenty individual district courts that request such a seminar. Topics of in-court programs in 2004 included social issues presented by developments in biology, improving the editing and writing of opinions, intellectual property cases, the first appointments to the federal judiciary (1789-1811), and law and literature.

The Center's conference for chief district judges focused on budgeting, juror utilization, and managing defense costs in federal capital cases. The conference for chief bankruptcy judges provided presentations on management decision making, analyses of the consolidation of services provided by courts' administrative units, and maintaining services and staff morale in times of declining resources. Both conferences were conducted in cooperation with the Administrative Office.

Programs for defender personnel included a national continuing education workshop, an orientation seminar for assistant defenders, and a seminar on law and technology.

FJTN broadcasts primarily for judges and legal staff included Supreme Court: The Term in Review (2003-2004), which analyzed cases that presented issues that are likely to affect federal court dockets, including evidence, sentencing, and civil rights litigation; Blakely v. Washington: An Update, which examined the possible effects on federal courts of this Supreme Court decision on sentencing; and Habeas Corpus in Alien Removal Cases, which explained the impact on such cases of recent legislation and Supreme Court decisions. Also in 2004, the Center broadcast a program on the requirements in the PROTECT Act concerning the Statement of Reasons used in federal sentencing, periodic updates on bankruptcy law, and an orientation series for new judicial law clerks, including a program on the basics of employment law.

The Center added a new Web-based resource page on managing capital habeas cases to its intranet (cwn.fjc.dcn) and Internet (www.fjc.gov) sites. Resources for Managing Habeas Corpus Review of Capital Convictions includes a guide that summarizes relevant law and case-management procedures used by federal judges in these cases and contains case-management plans, general procedure orders, budgeting forms, scheduling orders, and other forms that judges have used. The Center has maintained a similar resource page on management of federal death penalty cases for several years. The Center maintains these materials electronically on its Web sites rather than in hard-copy form so that new materials can be added as needed.

Two Web-based resource pages help judges assess the admissibility of electronic evidence:
A resource page under development contains a model survey that bankruptcy judges can use to get feedback about their performance from attorneys who practice before them.

The following judicial and legal education publications were released or in production in 2004:
Patent Law and Practice, originally a Center monograph and now published by the Bureau of National Affairs, is available to the federal judiciary in electronic format on the Center's site on the judicial branch's intranet.

Education Programs for Judges and Court Staff
The Center offers several programs that judges and court staff attend together.

IIn cooperation with the Judicial Conference's Criminal Law Committee, the U.S. Sentencing Commission, and the Federal Bureau of Prisons, the Center conducted a national sentencing policy institute in 2004 for district judges, probation and pretrial services officers, federal prosecutors, and federal defenders. The institute included a broad-ranging discussion of the roles of the legislative, executive, and judicial branches of government in fashioning sentencing policies, and representatives of all branches participated. To reach a wider audience within the courts, the Center videotaped portions of the sentencing institute and broadcast them on the FJTN.

The Center continued its Program for Consultations in Dispute Resolution, which provides on-site assistance to district and bankruptcy courts that wish to begin or revise ADR programs. Judges and court staff who have substantial ADR expertise travel to courts and provide ADR assistance using funds from a grant by the Hewlett Foundation to the Federal Judicial Center Foundation.

The Center conducted two-day executive team-building programs for new chief judges and their clerks of court in conjunction with the national conferences for district and bankruptcy judges. In addition, four strategic planning workshops-two for district courts and two for bankruptcy courts-broadened the team participation to include additional judges and court managers, and helped courts develop policy and operational plans specific to their courts.

Teams of judges, clerks of court, and jury managers and administrators explored successful techniques for juror management and utilization at workshops for large and mid-size courts.

To help district courts manage non-prisoner civil pro se litigation, the Center collected and organized information from each of the district courts regarding their practices with pro se litigants and is developing a resource page for this information on its intranet site.

Center staff facilitated two Administrative Office national workshops on Case Management/Electronic Case Files (CM/ECF) operational practices for district and bankruptcy courts. Along with the in-person participants, court personnel from around the country were able to take part in the workshops through audio and Web conferences. Also in collaboration with the Administrative Office, the Center conducted a videoconference for court teams and technical staff who manage capital construction projects.

At the request of individual courts, the Center organizes and conducts meetings to help courts examine their internal procedures, policies, and functions and determine the best ways to carry out court operations effectively and efficiently. For example, at the request of one of the courts of appeals and in cooperation with the Administrative Office, a Center education specialist served as facilitator for a meeting on implementing appellate electronic case filing. Participants included appellate and district judges, court and Administrative Office staff, and attorneys who practice in the circuit. Similarly, at the request of a district court, the Center helped its judges, senior managers, and administrative staff create a shared administrative services structure for the district's clerks, probation, and pretrial services offices. The Center stands ready to provide similar support to other courts of appeals and district courts.

Education Programs and Materials for Court Staff

Appellate, District, and Bankruptcy Courts
The biennial National Conference for District Court Clerks and Chief Deputy Clerks emphasized cost containment and management strategies. Speakers included the chairs of four Judicial Conference committees and the Director of the Administrative Office.

Two technology leadership workshops described effective uses of technology in the courts and ways to implement them. Attending were teams of circuit executives and their information technology managers and similar teams from bankruptcy and district courts and probation and pretrial services offices.

The Center produced a new curriculum package, Customer Service in a CM/ECF Environment, and released it to the courts to use in training their staffs to help lawyers and others as they adapt to electronic case filing. The package includes instructor and participant materials and can be taught by court staff with training experience.

Leadership and Court Management
At national executive institutes, senior court managers studied the skills of historical and contemporary leaders and considered how to apply those skills, as well as current management strategies, in today's work environment. New court unit executives, chief deputy clerks of court, and deputy chief probation and pretrial services officers attended.

The Center conducts multi-year advanced leadership development programs to help court employees prepare for positions of increasing responsibility. Members of Class IV of the two-and-a-half year program for managers and specialists in the offices of clerks of court, senior staff attorneys, and circuit librarians completed course requirements following a workshop in July; Class V initiated its studies with orientation and problem-solving audio and video conferences. Members of Class VII of the three-year leadership program for probation and pretrial services officers attended a mid-program workshop on mentoring and organizational vision.

FJTN leadership and management programs examined the core skills of great leaders, lessons learned from recent U.S. presidents, performance management, and the human aspect of downsizing. The Center also facilitated a series of audio conferences on downsizing concerns.

Probation and Pretrial Services
The biennial National Conference for Chief Probation and Pretrial Services Officers offered advice on dealing with budget shortfalls, motivating staff in the face of reductions, and maximizing return on technology investments.

The Center conducted three 5-day orientation workshops for 182 new officers. New officers also used Center-produced materials and reference guides for on-the-job orientation.

FJTN broadcasts included a new series on techniques for using the Center's Financial Investigation Desk Reference for U.S. Probation and Pretrial Services Officers. The first two programs covered fundamentals and document analysis. A ninety-minute Web conference following each program gave participants the opportunity to ask the faculty questions and share techniques with colleagues.

Several FJTN programs gave officers information and advice on supervising offenders and defendants. One showed how several probation and pretrial services offices had applied the principles of supervision in the updated Monographs 109 and 111. A related program described three probation offices' experiences in implementing policies and practices to conform with the revisions to Monograph 109. To complement these broadcasts, Center and Administrative Office staff facilitated several video conferences on Monograph 109 and 111 implementation. Additional programs provided training on postsentence supervision, supervision of alcoholics, and an instrument to determine which offenders or defendants would benefit most from substance abuse treatment.

Other broadcasts included Domestic Violence Awareness (produced with the National Institute of Corrections) and Changing Lives, which illustrates how officers can affect their supervisees' lives through intervention and assistance.

The Center offered interactive Web conferences and local programs for Critical Incident Stress Management (CISM) team members on suicide warning signs and other CISM matters. It also invited new chief probation and pretrial services officers to participate with experienced chiefs in audio conferences on effective leadership practices.

New curriculum packages, which the Center developed with probation and pretrial services subject-matter experts, provide instruction on writing effective pretrial services reports, testifying skills, and organization techniques for presentence investigations and pretrial services and probation supervision.

Other Programs for Court Staff
The Center conducted orientation video conferences for court personnel who serve as trainers for their units, as well as multisession continuing education video conferences.

FJTN programs for court-wide audiences addressed court staff safety, federal court oral history programs, and the work styles of different generations. Four new editions of the Court to Court television magazine program featured innovative practices developed by individual court units.