Courts and Caseload: Why Have Civil Filings Been Going Down?

June 18th Court Leader’s Advantage Podcast Episode

Brought to You in Cooperation with the National Association for Court Management

Civil filings are falling. They have been for some time. In fact, most court filings have been on a slow decline. In 2018, The National Center for State Courts put out a bulletin stating that nationally every major case category had declined from 2008 to 2016.

There are indications that in some states (California for example), the decline in civil filings started as far back as 1980.

This gradual decline seems little affected by economics, court organization, the presence or absence of court self-help centers, the state of the local bar, the type of case management system the court uses, or the amount of filing fees charged. With the possible exception of Texas, this decline appears widespread. This inevitably leads to the critical yet unanswered question “why is this happening?”

This month we’re talking about a new book just out by Alan Carlson and John Greacen called What is Happening to State Trial Court Civil Filings? We will explore questions including:

Why didn’t we court professionals see this coming a long time ago?
Are there changes in our society that are leading to changes in how people view the courts?
Do we have any idea how people are getting their disputes resolved if it is not by going through the courts?
Are courts actually ready to do the work to find out what is happening with filings?

Listen to the June 18, 2024, CLAPodcast Episode on your way to or from work. 36 Minutes 34 Seconds

Watch the June 18, 2024, CLAPodcast Episode on YouTube. 39 Minutes 45 Seconds

Today’s Panel

Alan Carlson has worked as a court executive and management consultant in state trial courts for over 45 years. He served as Court Executive Officer (court administrator, clerk of court, and jury commissioner) of the Orange (CA) Superior Court, Court Executive Officer of the San Francisco Superior Court, Executive Officer of the Monterey County Superior Court, and Assistant Executive Officer of the Alameda County Superior Court. He has also served as President of Justice Management Institute (court management consultants), Director of Court Services at the California Administrative Office of the Courts, and as an NCSC Staff Attorney.

Alan has a J.D. from U.C. College of the Law, San Francisco, and a B.S. in Industrial Engineering and Operations Research from U.C. Berkeley.

JOHN M. GREACEN is a nationally recognized leader in court administration, court automation and electronic filing, court performance measurement, customer service enhancement and innovation. He has served in executive roles in both the federal and state court systems, and in both trial and appellate courts, and has led a variety of successful court re-engineering efforts.

John has published on a variety of legal and court administration topics, including self-represented litigants, family courts, use of technology, e-filing, and caseflow management. He regularly speaks and teaches on court administration topics. He also received the Robert B. Yegge Award for Outstanding Contribution in the Field of Judicial Administration from the American Bar Association.

Marcus W. Reinkensmeyer is the Deputy Director for the Administrative Office of the Courts, Supreme Court of Arizona, having previously served as the Director of the Court Services Division. Previously, he served as the court administrator, chief deputy court administrator and director of judicial information systems for the Superior Court of Arizona in Maricopa County.

In the State of Illinois, Marcus served as assistant director of the Administrative Office of the Courts (Court Services Division), court administrator (17th Judicial Circuit), assistant superintendent of juvenile detention and a probation officer.

Marcus serves as a board member for the North American Regional Board of the International Association for Court Administration. He is the past president of the National Association for Court Management and the Arizona Courts Association, and former editor of the Court Manager. Marcus serves as faculty for the NCSC’s Institute for Court Management (ICM) and adjunct faculty for the National Judicial College. His articles appear in Judicature, The Court Manager, Justice System Journal, Future Trends in State Courts, the Judges Journal, the ABA’s JD Record, the Practice of Law Chronical and The Retrospective of Courthouse Design.

Marcus holds a bachelor’s degree from Michigan State University and a Master’s degree in Public Administration from Northern Illinois University. He is a recipient of NCSC Warren E. Burger Award, the NACM Award of Merit, the JMI Ernest C. Friesen Award, the ICM Award of Merit, the ICM Star Award and the Arizona Supreme Court’s Distinguished Service Award.