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1 Mira Gur-Arie, Legal and Court Staff in the United States Judiciary 1 (2004)

handle is hein.congcourts/lecoust0001 and id is 1 raw text is: Legal and Court Staff in the United States Judiciary Seminar on the Management of the Assistant Personnel to Judges Changzhou, Jiangsu Province, China November 22 - 26, 2004 Mira Gur-Arie Senior Attorney, International Judicial Relations Federal Judicial CenterI Washington, D.C., United States Legal and court staff play an important role in the administration of justice in the United States. Whether by overseeing pretrial matters, assisting with legal research and drafting, or assuming responsibility for court operations, the contributions of assistant judges, law clerks, and court managers enable judges to focus on the demands of adjudication and thereby facilitate the efficient operation of the judicial system. Though the U.S. has a long history of delegating responsibility for discrete aspects of the adjudicative and administrative functions to subordinate professionals, this practice is not universally followed, with judges from other countries far less comfortable relinquishing authority to assistants and clerks. However, the international trend appears to be in the direction of creating categories of professionals trained specifically to support judges. Many judiciaries around the world have recently introduced judicial assistant positions and others are expanding the scope and enhancing the professionalism of their administrative staff structures. This paper will address the U.S. experience in this field, beginning with a brief overview of the U.S. court system and then turning to a discussion of the work performed by three categories of assistant personnel: judicial (magistrate and para-judges); legal (law clerks and staff attorneys); and administrative (clerks of court and circuit executives). The U.S. Judicial System The subject of legal and court staff in the United States is most easily understood within the broader context of the structure and practice of the U.S. judicial system. The United States judiciary is an independent branch of government. Responsibility for adjudication rests with the judges presiding over the trial or appeal, without oversight or interference by other officials. Although funding for the courts is appropriated by the legislature and approved by the executive, primary responsibility for judicial administration lies with the judicial branch.2 1 The Federal Judicial Center is the research and education agency for the U.S. federal courts. The views expressed in this paper are those of the author not the FJC. 2 Policy making for the federal courts is determined by the Judicial Conference of the United States, a body of judge- members, with the Chief Justice of the United States serving as its Chair. The Administrative Office of the United States, an agency within the federal judicial branch, oversees judicial administration, including establishing the judiciary's budgetary needs, compiling statistical information, and providing staff support for the Judicial Conference. Additional information about the Judicial Conference and Administrative Office can be found at www.uscourts.ov. Many state court systems have similar policy and administrative bodies, with other states delegating responsibility for the administration of the judiciary to their supreme courts. 1

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