In an era where justice and rehabilitation hold increasing importance, municipal courts shine as a beacon of hope and progress. Local courts go beyond traditional justice by addressing the root causes of criminal behavior, facilitating individuals’ rebuilding of their lives,… Read more »
Posts By: Mary Kay Fenlon
Assistive Listening Systems in Courtrooms: What Court Managers Need to Know
Ensuring all participants and observers can hear clearly during court proceedings is essential to fair and efficient trials. If jurors, litigators, defendants, judges, transcriptionists, and others in a courtroom cannot hear and understand what is being said, the due process… Read more »
What’s the Ideal Manager-Employee Relationship?
You may have seen me featured as “The Candid Boss” for The Muse, an online career resource destination. One of the questions I am often asked is, can managers and employees be friends at work?
An even more essential question to ask is, what does an ideal manager-employee relationship look like?
President’s Message
The calendar has turned to yet another year. Many of us have cleaned our work areas, purged ourselves of items no longer relevant, and are preparing to embrace the coming of a new day—or are we? Change …ah, a word not… Read more »
Management Musings
“When the legend becomes fact, print the legend,” is a famous line from John Ford’s acclaimed film The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance. The idea is that when the fictional story is better than what truly happened, it was better… Read more »
A Question of Ethics
Today’s Question of Ethics Conversation looks at several ethical challenges regarding employee performance. It discusses four questions many supervisors face in their oversight role. Moderator Samantha Wallis: Deputy Trial Court Administrator, Supreme Court, Coeur d’Alene, Idaho Panelists Lizzie Alipaz: Court… Read more »
Courtside Conversation
Whitney Freese
Whitney Freese Senior Management AnalystClark County (Washington) Superior Court11 Judges, 4 Court CommissionersNACM Member since 2021CORE® Champion Whitney Freese, a long-serving court professional, has reached a major milestone in her field. After holding various court positions and soon after joining NACM,… Read more »
2023 NACM State of the Profession
One of the highlights of the 2023 Annual NACM Conference in Tampa, Florida was the State of the Profession speech, delivered by NACM President Jeffrey Tsunekawa. NACM Board member and vice chair of the Governance Committee Nicole Garcia summarized President Tsunekawa’s approach…
2023 CourtFutures Top Trends to Watch: By NACM Respondents
We have summarized the best thinking of over 1,700 court professionals, with various subsets having reviewed 241 different possible scenarios of the future.1 This report highlights recent assessments, focuses on responses from NACM members, and compares their assessments with those of the overall group…
Increasing Court Appearance: Winning Strategies from Around the Country
Imagine you are a single parent with an upcoming court date. You live far from the courthouse, with no car and no money for either a rideshare or a babysitter, and you have been asking friends to drive you and… Read more »
The NACM DEI Guide
In 2020 a lot of national news focused on issues of racial bias, violence against people of color, and civil unrest. I want to remember some of the victims of 2020 in the hopes that you too will never forget them…
Thoughts from Early Career and Seasoned Professionals
In the court system, what do early career professionals and more seasoned supervisors have in common? At the Pima County Consolidated Justice Court (PCCJC), the answer is easy. Both groups view judicial administration as a career and not simply as… Read more »
President’s Message
Greetings NACM members and court stakeholders: Thank you for the honor to serve as your president of NACM. I have the wonderful opportunity to work with outstanding court professionals in my office in Pennsylvania and now build upon professional relationships forged… Read more »
Measuring the Impacts of Strategies to Reduce Court Caseloads and Backlogs
Backlogs in court case processing are not new and have been a focus of the National Center for State Courts (NCSC) since its founding. Justice Delayed: The Pace of Litigation in Urban Trial Courts was published in 1978 on this… Read more »
Courtside Conversation Louisiana Court Administrators Association
Highlighting the Louisiana Court Administrators AssociationLouisiana will host the NACM Annual Conference, July 21–25, 2024, at the New Orleans Hilton Riverside Laissez les bon temps rouler(Let the Good Times Roll) How did you get started in court administration? Judge Ranord… Read more »
Internal Controls Are for Everybody!—Part Two: Financial Controls
When internal controls are considered, we often automatically think of financial management. Considering that, let us walk through the five main internal control components using Financial Controls as an example…
Management Musings
“You can’t do this. You can do this.” “You’re not smart enough. You’re just as intelligent as them.” “You’re fat and look awful. You look great and besides no one is perfect.” “You’re going to look foolish. Anyone would be… Read more »
Tips of the Trade: Grants Management
This article will tackle the more practical tips of the trade: organizational habits and tricks to get organized and communicate clearly within and outside of your organization on grant-funded projects…
A Question of Ethics
“Quiet Quitting”: What Is It? What Should We Do About It? April 27, 2023, A Question of Ethics Conversation Episode “Quiet quitting.” It is a topic that many of us have heard about. In an era where it is a… Read more »
What Court Professionals Need to Know: Training, Certificates, and Certification on the NACM CORE®
The NACM CORE® (https://nacmCORE.org/) is a comprehensive training program for court managers. NACM’s intent in promoting these competencies goes beyond providing information for professionals working in court administration to also promoting excellence in the administration of justice and court management. … Read more »