Well, here we are, two months into my two-year sentence, I mean term, as Presiding Judge, and no disasters have befallen the court yet. I trust the transition from Judge Simmons to Yours Truly has appeared seamless from the perspective of the bar: The courthouse is still open; the wheels of justice are churning as rapidly as ever; and Judge Howard is still the Golden Child with daily accolades streaming in. Tom Brown’s installation as the 71st MCBA President was a tremendous success. The food was exquisite; the speakers were inspiring; and most importantly, my jokes were (seemingly) hilarious.

The present mood on the courthouse steps appears genuinely positive and optimistic—and for good reason. On the statewide level, the Governor’s initial budget proposal is not as bleak as in the recent past, with the Judicial Branch receiving some much-needed love and attention. At the local level, rumor has it that Marin County Superior Court will finally join the 21st Century and update its case management system. E-filing and many other bells and whistles available through modern technology may soon be implemented. (Indeed, such implementation appears at the top of my list of goals.) Finally, you have undoubtedly noticed that the court is running at full-capacity with twelve judges—more than ever before.

Here in back halls of the hall of justice, the mood is equally positive. The courthouse staff is happy; morale is high, and the court is proudly serving as a model, on several fronts, for superior courts statewide. But don’t take my word for it. This was the message recently delivered to the Judicial Council by the Honorable James Humes, Presiding Justice of the First District Court of Appeal, Division One. Justice Humes visited us late last year. He closely examined our processes, infrastructure, and functionality, and reported his findings to the Judicial Council. Justice Humes told the Council that he “could not have been more delighted or inspired from [his] visit,” and that courts statewide “can all learn from some of the collaborative and creative ways [the court has] gone about continuing to provide services in spite of a shrinking budget.” (1)

This is where you, the thoughtful, benevolent, and hard-working members of the local bar, come in. As Justice Humes recognized, the court is working as well as it is because of our fantastic relationship and partnership with the local bar. Yes, in our meeting with Justice Humes, we gave you all the credit, and deservedly so. While many courts across the state are closing their doors to the public, furloughing employees, reducing self-help hours, postponing decisions, continuing trials, and ultimately delaying justice, Marin is trailblazing innovative programs to promote efficiency and assure timely access to justice (Justice Humes’ observations.)

We are able to do so only because of your help. Over the past year, your contributions have been remarkable. Scores of lawyers collectively volunteered hundreds, if not thousands of hours. Unrepresented litigants in unlawful detainer cases, civil harassment restraining order hearings, and family law proceedings enjoyed the benefit of your volunteer services week after week. Almost daily, skilled mediators devoted hours upon hours to our mandatory settlement conferences, resolving cases that remained at impasse through the eve of trial. The Marin County Bar Association’s modest means mediation program produced countless settlements. Legal Aid of Marin provided desperately needed legal services to indigent litigants in cases large and small, despite Legal Aid’s shrinking budget. Our Community Court at St. Vincent’s Dining Hall and Youth Court run by the YMCA diverted scores of youthful and underprivileged misdemeanants from the criminal justice system. The discovery facilitator program relieved the civil department of countless time-consuming and taxing law and motion matters. The family law bar selflessly dedicated time, energy and expertise to conducting weekly bench-bar settlement conferences. The civil bench-bar committee was re-established and is working toward developing a demurrer facilitation program. The District Attorney, Public Defender, and Probation Department worked together to increase the efficiencies in our criminal departments and specialty courts. The list goes on. Your efforts have been instrumental in increasing the court’s efficiencies, lowering our numbers, and unclogging the system. Our success in these challenging times reflects upon our local bar association and volunteers selflessly assisting the court in administering justice. To the extent we are successful, we owe big thanks to you.

And now, at risk of breaking tradition by honestly reporting on the “State of the Court,” I will share some of the difficult realities we face. Despite the positive news recited above, our financial struggles here in Marin County will continue to mount. The Governor’s promising proposed budget (even if it survives the May Revise and the usual last-minute revisions) will not result in a single additional penny for the Marin County Superior Court. We have been dubbed a “donor” court (a term with such negative connotation, the Judicial Council has terminated its use). Nevertheless, we are viewed as being adequately funded, and responsible for giving up funding in deference to other courts with greater struggles. The question for us is limited to five words: “How much will we lose?” Although we have suffered consecutive budget cuts of approximately $500,000 each year for the past four years, our allocation from the judicial branch simply will not include any new money. Period. The roughly $2,000,000 cut from our annual budget reflects a substantial percentage of our total yearly funds. We are truly operating at the skeletal level. As Justice Humes noted, “fewer resources have led to impressive innovations, but the court is near the breaking point.”

In addition to ever-increasing costs of doing business, mounting obligations stemming from rapidly changing legislation, and meeting our payroll (which is about 85% of our total budget), our new case management system is estimated to cost the court approximately $6 million when all is told. Since all courts in California are prohibited from saving more than 1% of our total budget in reserves each year, we have no savings from which to draw. Funding a new case management system while also meeting our operational needs will be a daunting task. However, with the help of our enthusiastic and tireless Court Executive Officer James Kim, together with our innovative Chief Information Officer Adam Creiglow, and dedicated Chief Operations Officer Janet Minkiewicz, as well as the Court’s Leadership Team and staff we are moving forward with our plan (more aptly described as a pipe dream for now) to implement a new case management system during my term as Presiding Judge. To achieve this goal, we must continue to innovate, streamline, and organize our work to maximize efficiencies.

Thus, my pitch to you. We need your continued support, energy, innovative ideas, and volunteerism. We could not function without you. We appreciate your work. Every day, every hour you squeeze from your own schedule and donate to us is greatly appreciated. With your continued efforts, I will remain optimistic that in two years, when I surrender my post to our next presiding judge, we will be running as a well-oiled machine, with a new, functioning case management system. In the meantime, I will be looking forward to the annual judges’ luncheon held at the end of the year, at which time I can report upon our successes (in addition to Judge Howard’s continued popularity, of course).

(1) A video recording of Justice Humes’ report may be viewed online here, commencing at the 1:26:13 mark.