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2 Alaska B. Rag 1 (1979)

handle is hein.barjournals/askabar0002 and id is 1 raw text is: U.S. Postage Pakd Sulk Mail Pennit No. 401 Anchorage. Alaska in Volume 2. Number I tclgtiitfnn. tamp iq)iJtitt: lan~ary 1979 $1.00 Arthur Snowden. Administrative Director of the Alaska Court System unveiled plans to request a new inter- mediate court, new judicial positions, and pay raises for judges in an address before the Anchorage Bar Association at its weekly Monday luncheon meeting on December 11, 1978, Snowden cited the need for a new intermediate court arising out of a dramatically expanding appellate case load. He informed the Anchorage Bar that since 1969 the Supreme Court's case load has grown 400%. Every justice is writing over 50 full opinions per year. Snowden remarked. He said that the projected case load over the next four or five years would place an impossible burden upon the -Supreme Court. Alternatives Considered Snowden said that the Supreme Court was looking at a three-judge intermediate court with possible ex- pansion five to ten years down the road. In order to meet the challenge of an ever-expanding caseload, the Supreme Court has considered the following alternatives: 1. Expansion: 2. Panels of jurists: 3, An intermediate rurl 4. Shorter and per curiam opinions. In its study of these alter- natives the Court found that among similar states such as Idaho and Hawaii, the best thinking appears to support the concept of an intermediate court. Initially, the new court probably would handle only criminal and sen- tence appeals. There would be a direct right of appeal to this court from the Superior Court with certiorari provision to the Supreme Court. Snowden discounted the present ban on plea bargaining as a significant factor in the increased Supreme Court work load. He said that since the ban Approximately 120 Alaska lawyers will be attending the Second Annual Mid-Winter meeting of the Alaska Bar Association at the end of this month in Kauai. The meeting, which will he held at the Kauai Surf Hotel, will begin with registration on the afternoon of lan. 31. and adjourn on Feb. 3. The featured speaker at the con- vention will be the noted columnist. Art Buchwald of Washington. D.C. Substantive programs will he offered on Consumer Protection and Unfair Practices. and Products Liability Liti- gation. There also will he a special program on Stress Management. to he given by a team of physicians. Luncheon speakers will he Chief Justice Jay Rabinowitz of the Alaska Supreme Court. and E. Courtney Kahr of Hawaii. A detailed prngram follows: Wednesday. January 31. 1979 2:00 p.m.-6:00 p.m. Registration-East ILohhv 6:00 p.m.-7:30 p.m. No-Host Cocktails-Polsidn Thursday. February 1. 1979 8:00 a.m.-10:00 a.m. Registration-East Lobbv 8:30 a.m.-1:00 p.m. Arthur H. Snowden II pleas have continued to increase. The time of approximately three judges is allocated to handling the crir.inal work in Superior Court. Filings for criminal cases have dropped every year for the last five years. When asked what delay, if any. has been caused by requests for oral argument before the Supreme Court, Snowden said his study had revealed the time spent in oral argument had no signifi- cant effect on the Court's work load. Additional Judges Needed As to the Superior and District Court situation in Anchorage. Snowden commented on the large civil case backlog. Although neither civil filings nor criminal cases have expanded qigniltinailv. the lenlh of cases qoinq to tril h;pi increased in an average otl throw dnlq or more. Snowdon said that the Judges' time is being fully used. Snowden said he would propose to the Legislature two new Superior Court judges and one District Court judge in Anchorage to assist in a work- Seminar-Kauni Ballroom #1 Consumer Protection and Unfair Practices A review and analysis of Alaska's consumer protection and unfair trade statutes, to focus specificallv on the rights of litigants, both private and government. The course will also cover the Fed- eral Trade Commission Act (Sec- tion 5.) Speakers Donald H. Millins and Frederic C. Tausend of Schweppe, Doolittle. Krug. Tausend & Beezer of Seattle. Washington. Connie Sipe. Cnnsumer Prntection Agency 6:30 p.m.-8:00 p.m. Hosted Cocklail-Anchororage Bar Association KoKee Lanai Room 8:00 p.m. Dinner-Kauni Ballroom #2 {koloa Roomsl Speaker tnternalionallv famous newspaper roluninI Art Huchwald INTRODUCTION by The Honor- uhf. Samuel P King f hil i,.rd' United States District Court. District of Hawaii (continued on next paqel load and to shorten the time required to get a case to trial. Trial Settings Examind Snowden commented on the trial setting problem in Anchorage. At pre- sent it takes between 12 and 13 months before a case can come to trial. He said he felt that attorneys would be willing to take a couple of more months if they could be certain of a trial date. Judicial time has re- sulted in some cases being continued or reset to new dates equally un- certain because of the unavailability of judges. He said that both the trial court Administrator and judge Moody are committed to the trial date certain concerti a nd inlond in inplnnion! I He also discussed a proposal to move the Motions Calendar from the be ginning to the end of the trial ay in order to elinrnai interference with trial and also to cut down on trial times. In addition to the new judges for Anchorage, Snowden said that he ex- pected to propose a new Superior Court judge for Kotzebue to improve the basic level of service to rural Alaskans in that area. Flo indicated that the travel costs necessary to pro- vide a Superior Court judge on an as needed basis to Kotzebue would pay the difference in salary for a resident judge. Pay Raises Sought Snowden said that he expected that the Legislature would be asked to increase the salaries of the judiciary at all levels. The new intermediate court judges, if approved. would be salaried between the Superior and Supreme Court salaries, fudges' and justices' salaries have not kept up with rises in the cost of living and it has been some time since they have been increased. Interrogatories. Conflicts t)f ficn I)iqcsed Snowden announced a new 30 question interrogatiorv rule by the Supreme Court and discussed the possibility that attorneys might move for exceptions in special cases where more interogatories were necessary. He said the effects of the new plan would be closely monitored by the Court. Finally, Snowden spoke of the general dissatisfaction on all sides of the handling of the conflicts cases and the expenses that they incur. He said that the Court was considering the possibility of funding an alternative public defenders office through the Governor's office, which would handle conflicts cases. Inside Postmortem ......... page 3 Cross Examination.. page 6 Bars of Nome ...... page 11 Nose ............... page 8 Limited Entry ....... page 8 Snowden Reveals Plan to Request New Court, More Judges, Pay Raises Applications for Circuit Judgeships Available Contrary to an earlier announce- ment. an Alaskan now apparently will ho considered for appointment In at least one newly-created vacancv on the U.S. Court of Appeals. Ninth Circuit, Initially. President Carter had said an Alaskan wouldn't he con- sidored. hul apparently changed his mind after being contacted 1v Son. Mike Gravel and Kenneth 0. larvi. President tf the Alaska Bar Associa- lion, Sandra K. Saville. the Alaska memher of the Circuit Nominating Commission, said it is her uinder- standing that nominees will be con- sideted from Alaska. Washington and Oregon. The Omnibus Judgeship Bill created 10 new seats on the Ninth Circuit. and an Executive Order signed hv President Carter allocated three seals to the Northern Division of the Circuit. The Northern Division in- cltdes the states of Alaska. Hawnii. Idaho. Montana. Oregon and Wash- ington. Ms. Saville said the Commission will hold its organizational meoling Jan. 30 in Portland. The Commission has been asked to submit a list of 12 nominees to the President on or before March 14. Ms, Saville urged all qualified candidates to apply for the judge- ship. In that way. she said. Alaska will have a better chance of having one or more names ultimately sub- milled to the President. She also urged that names he submitted to the Commission Chair- man. John L. Schwabe of Portland as soon as possible. Schwabo's address is Souther. Spaulding. Kinsev. William- son & Schwabe. 1200 Standard Plaza. Portland. OR 97204. Upon receiving names of prospective nominees. Schwahe wilt then send each person an applica- lion form. To be considered by the panel. a person must be a member of the Bar in good standing. Important fac- tors in determining whether a person is well qualified are professional competence. extent and nature of legal experience, character, temperament and health. A proposed nominee should normally have 12 to 15 vears of legal experience and be physically and mentally capable of sustained work on difficult intellectual problems, with the potential for rendering long and energetic service on the federal bench. Experience of particular rele- vance may have been acquired in these areas: Ia) substantial appellate experience as a lawyer or judge: Ib) substantial trial court experience as a lawyer of judge: fc) substantial federal law masterv as demonstrated by teaching or by professional as- sociation with public or private of- fices dealing extensively with federal law: (d) substantial legal writing with relationship to federal law: (a) sub- stantial experience in judicial ed., ucation or law reform activilv of a highly professional nature, with some correlation to federal matters. Gn- erally. experience in at least two or three of the above areas will be re- quired. In cases of substantial and outstanding service as a federal or state judge, experience in one of these areas will be sufficient. Hawaii Registration Tops 100 Mark

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