Courts, Lawyers and the Administration of Justice Section Annual Report 2012

Programming
Public Statements
Community Service
Practice Manual

Programming

Welcome to the D.C. Office of Administrative Hearings—December 2011
Panel discussion about some of the 25 District of Columbia agencies under the jurisdiction of this administrative central panel. Moderated by steering committee member Administrative Law Judge Sharon Goodie. Panelists included Principal Administrative Law Judges Erika Pierson and John Dean, and Administrative Law Judges Jesse Goode and E. Savannah Little.
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How to Litigate Your Case When Your Client is Locked Up Outside the District of Columbia—February 8, 2012
Panel discussion on the pros and cons of transporting clients to court or representing them via video teleconference.

Moderated by then-steering committee member Superior Court Special Counsel (now Magistrate Judge) Rainey Ransom Brandt. Panelists included Michael Bonner, Director of Legal Services, Our Place D.C.; Deborah Golden, Washington Lawyers Committee; Teresa Howie, Deputy Chief, Superior Court Operations, United States Attorney’s Office; and Avrom Sickel, D.C. Superior Court Family Court Self Help Center Branch Chief
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Bench–Bar Panel and Brown Bag Program with Superior Court Civil Division Judges—April 5, 2012.
Moderated by former steering committee member Presiding Judge Melvin Wright. Panelists included Associate Judges Judith Bartnoff, Anita Josey-Herring, Todd Edelman, and Senior Judge Brooke Hedge.
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When Justice So Requires: Toward a Right to Counsel for Indigents in D.C. Civil Cases—April 17, 2012
Panel discussion of the possible future of a right to counsel movement and/or legislation for the District of Columbia.

Moderated by steering committee member and Chair of the Courts, Lawyers and the Administration of Justice (CLAJ) Section Access to Justice Committee Chair Steven Pershing.

Panelists included John Cruden, President, D.C. Bar (2005-06); President, Environmental Law Institute (opening remarks); Peter Edelman, Chair, D.C. Access to Justice Commission; Professor of Law, Georgetown University Law Center; Clare Pastore, Professor of Law, University of Southern California Law School; Legislative Drafter, California Civil Right to Counsel Pilot Program; and John Pollock, Coordinator, National Coalition for a Civil Right to Counsel.

The Bar has invited CLAJ to present this panel in an expanded form at the 2013 Judicial Conference.
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The Supreme Court: The View from the Press Gallery—July 3, 2012
CLAJ’s annual review of the High Court term, including the landmark decision on the Affordable Care Act, by some of the nation’s top court reporters. Hosted by Arnold & Porter, LLP.

Moderated by Arthur Spitzer, Legal Director, ACLU of the Nation’s Capital.

Panelists included Robert Barnes, The Washington Post; Joan Biskupic, ThomsonReuters; Jesse Holland, Associated Press; Adam Liptak, The New York Times; Tony Mauro, Legal Times & American Lawyer Media; David Savage, The Los Angeles Times.
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Guantanamo Tribunals, What is Justice Post 9-11? Film and Panel Discussion - Planned for July 2012.
This panel was planned in the Spring of 2012, but postponed and eventually presented in October 2012.
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Public Statements

A. October 2011
CLAJ drafted and submitted a statement supporting proposed changes in the D.C. Court of Appeals Code of Judicial Conduct to allow judges greater leeway, without ethics violation, to assist unrepresented persons in their courtrooms. That statement passed review by the Bar and was submitted to the court in October.

B. September 2012
CLAJ assisted in drafting, and joined, a public statement from the Litigation Section raising concern about a proposal from the D.C. Department of Corrections to require D.C. Jail visits by family members to occur by videoconference only, without permitting in-person visits as well.
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Community Service
Section members took part as volunteer instructors in an introduction to law activity at the firm of Wiley Rein LLP. This is an annual half-day summer-time event, originally cosponsored by the section during the steering committee term of firm partner Laura Foggan, for students entering the Thurgood Marshall Academy, a D.C. charter high school founded by law graduates from Georgetown a decade ago. It featured a firm tour, mock trial and other law–themed events.
Section members also participated in the annual Youth Law Fair at Superior Court in April 2012.
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D.C. Practice Manual
The section continued its review, oversight, and updating of chapters on U.S. District Court Civil Practice and Appellate Practice in the D.C. Court of Appeals.
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