BULLETIN OF THE ASSOCIA

Transcription

1 The Catchline BULLETIN OF THE ASSOCIATION OF REPORTERS OF JUDICIAL DECISIONS June 2015 Volume XXXIV No. 2 1

2 CONTENTS President s Message... 3 Education Committee Report... 4 Executive Board Meeting Fall Executive Board Meeting Spring David Power Promoted to Deputy Registrar

3 President s Message Greetings from the Natural State where spring has tentatively set foot. The planning process is in full swing for the upcoming annual meeting in Music City, Tennessee formerly known as the Hog and Hominy State and The Mother of Southwestern Statesmen. Nashville offers the perfect blend of Southern hospitality and country music, which is graciously served up by Volunteers, Big Benders, and Butternuts. But, not to worry, if you prefer Civil War battlefields to Merle Haggard, just skip the honky-tonks and go straight to the Battle of Nashville Preservation Society s site for touring opportunities: bonps.org/tour/tour.htm The meeting will be held August 5-9 at Embassy Suites Hotel Vanderbilt. Information about the hotel can be accessed at The registration materials with all the details will go out toward the end of May. Brandee Mooneyhan is considering two restaurants for the Wednesday evening dinner. One of the options is located directly across the street from Embassy Suites and has a very casual atmosphere. More details to be revealed soon. Thomson Reuters plans to sponsor a dinner cruise Thursday evening on the General Jackson Showboat. This dinner tour features live entertainment and amazing views of downtown Nashville: LexisNexis has arranged for us to attend a performance Friday evening at the Grand Ole Opry followed by a backstage tour. This is a wonderful opportunity for Civil War buffs to become country music fans: Wolters Kluwer will also be sponsoring an event; however, I do not have any information to relay at this point. I am extremely grateful to Thomson Reuters, LexisNexis, and Wolters Kluwer for their continued support. Leah Walker has, once again, lined up a superb group of speakers for our educational program. Please refer to the Education Committee Report that follows for more information. Also note that this issue of The Catchline includes information from both the fall and spring Executive Board Meetings held in Nashville; therefore, I have kept things short and sweet. We may see a few new faces at the Nashville meeting, including Jason Macke, the Ohio Reporter of Decisions. I know everyone will extend a warm welcome to first-time attendees. I hope to see everyone in Nashville! Susan Williams ARJD President 3

4 Education Committee Report Plans are afoot to bring you a variety of speakers and topics at the Nashville meeting. I have several confirmed speakers and several that I have reached out to and am hopeful will be able to present at the meeting. Retired Justice William C. Koch, Jr., of the Tennessee Supreme Court, will speak to us about Tennessee s unique judicial reporting situation, in which the Attorney General is also the Reporter of Decisions. He was recommended as an engaging speaker thoroughly immersed in Tennessee legal history, so I am looking forward to hearing him. Keith Lundin, Chief Judge of the Bankruptcy Court for the Middle District of Tennessee, will offer us guidance on effective legal writing for appellate courts. He plans to include a writing exercise in his presentation, so come prepared to work! The New England School of Law s Judicial Language Project seeks to open the dialog about inappropriate language in appellate level sexual assault cases and offer alternatives. The Project Supervisor, Professor Wendy Murphy, will speak to us about the project and offer suggestions on how to avoid inappropriate language. For more information on this topic, see the Project s website: jlp.cfm. Professor Daniel Gervais, a native of Montréal transplanted to Nashville and recently named associate reporter for the Restatement of Copyright, will speak to us about the government as funder, creator, and user of intellectual property, as well as music copyright issues. Marc Jenkins, Executive Vice President of Cicayda, a litigation software and services company, will discuss information management, electronic document retention and production, and legal technology. Professor Jodi Wilson will present on assessing the use and value of nontraditional sources in legal writing. For a preview of her thoughts, her recently published paper, Proceed with Extreme Caution, is available at 16 Vand. J. Ent. & Tech. L Professor Lyn Entriken will present Law and Lexicography, in which she discusses the use of dictionaries as legal precedent. Professor John Joergensen, Chair of the LegalCiteM subcommittee, will update us on the OASIS project. I am in discussions with our vendors to provide a training seminar on their new platforms, particularly WestlawNext and Lexis Advance, and to offer us tips on how to effectively train our staff and law clerks on how to use these products. Leah Walker 4

5 Executive Board Meeting Fall 2014 The fall Executive Board Meeting was held on November 21, 2014 at the Embassy Suites Vanderbilt, in Nashville, TN. In attendance were: Susan Williams; Brandee Mooneyhan (via telephone); Brian Redmond; and Leah Walker. Committee Reports (Highlights) a. Communications Susan presented the Communications Committee report on behalf of François. The summer edition of The Catchline was published in June, and he is soliciting articles for the next edition, scheduled for December. Feedback on the layout (done by April Patterson of the Nevada Supreme Court) continues to be positive. Dan Spurling distributed the edition via , and it was also published on the ARJD Facebook page (as well as on the ARJD website). Meg Greene updated the ARJD Web page with the new membership form. The meetings page and the chairpersons and officers pages were also updated. The Board reviewed the history of the committee and recognized the concentrated bursts of work that membership on this committee entails. The Board intends to reach out to committee members to explore ways of easing the workload, new avenues of communication, etc. b. Annual Meeting Susan noted that the plan to have a relatively permanent Annual Meeting Committee chair to assist the President in planning the meeting has not come to fruition, as the person who volunteered for the position is no longer with the ARJD. Susan reported on her progress with respect 5 to the 2015 meeting in Nashville. She has established a registration link with the Embassy Suites Vanderbilt; the deadline for registration will be July 15. The cost of food and beverages will be $5,500; the cost of meeting space is minimal, but audio-visual will be in addition. c. Education Leah presented the Education committee report. She received a suggested topic from Susan on the subject of inappropriate language in appellate-level sexual assault cases, and she is getting in touch with the Judicial Language Project to gauge their interest and availability in speaking. Because the Attorney General of Tennessee serves as the Reporter of Decisions, Leah is working on securing a speaker to discuss this fascinating combination of judicial and executive branch responsibilities; she has

6 The Catchline found a judge who can give a history on this arrangement. With the meeting being held in Music City, she is working on a speaker to discuss copyright issues surrounding the use of lyrics in opinions. Brandee will give a presentation on the creation of the new Court of Appeals in Nevada and its ramifications for the Reporter. Kevin might be a resource on this subject, as he was involved in the creation of Connecticut s intermediate appellate level court. Leah also hopes to have a professor of law from Emory give a talk on management practices. Finally, Leah is working on arranging space in Vanderbilt for some of the presentations. June 2015 Site Selection The discussion focused on the cost of AV equipment for the upcoming annual meeting, which continues to be significant. Leah reiterated that the ARJD could purchase an easily transportable projector for a few hundred dollars. She will continue to look into this and inquire from Kevin about purchasing one. Another topic of discussion was the luncheon: if we have one, it will be a buffet, as the Embassy Suites is not set up for a more formal luncheon and they are a significant cost. Other Business The subject of the need to institute a formal policy regarding the reimbursement of speakers arose after 6 one of the speakers at this year s meeting sought reimbursement for expenses beyond those that the ARJD expected. After discussion, the Board decided that we do not need a formal policy and that our current practice of informing speakers in advance of the meeting regarding what expenses we will reimburse should be sufficient. The Board noted the appointment of Lawrence Striley as Reporter of Decisions in California and extended its best wishes to him. Happily, several members of the ARJD have already reached out to welcome Lawrence and offer him any assistance they can provide. Brian Redmond

7 Executive Board Meeting Spring 2015 The spring Executive Board Meeting was held on April 17, 2015 at Bone McAllester Norton, in Nashville, TN. In attendance were: Susan Williams; Brandee Mooneyhan (via Skye and telephone); Brian Redmond; Leah Walker; Mary Joe Beck; and Ralph Preston. Committee Reports (Highlights) a. Communications François submitted a written report. The report touched on the issue of member information being made available on the Internet via the directory. Currently, members can check a box on the dues form opting out of having information published in the public directory on the ARJD website. This requires that the treasurer let the directory editor know which members have checked the box. Brian suggested a somewhat different approach to communications generally: a Google group, which could include directory information but puts the onus on the member to manage the information. After some discussion, the board decided to pilot a Google group with the board as members, to learn whether this idea would work for the ARJD as a whole. The board also expressed a desire to cull methods of communication that are not effective, rather than simply adding additional means of communication. The Fall/Winter edition of The Catchline was published in early January It was distributed via to all ARJD members. It was also published on the ARJD Facebook page as well as on its website. François also reported receiving some feedback on the format of The Catchline. Brandee and April had discussed this prior to the meeting and concluded that they would avoid extra formatting. François further expressed his need for content for the spring edition. b. Education Leah presented the report of the Education committee. Retired Justice William C. Koch, Jr., of the Tennessee Supreme Court will discuss Tennessee s unique judicial reporting situation, in which the Attorney General serves as the Reporter of Decisions. The Chief Judge of the Bankruptcy Court for the Middle District of Tennessee, Keith Lundin, will offer us guidance on effective legal writing for appellate courts including a writing exercise. Based on a suggested topic received from Susan, Leah has arranged for Professor Wendy Murphy from New England School of Law s Judicial Language Project to speak to us on the subject of inappropriate language in appellate-level sexual assault cases. Professor Daniel Gervais will speak to us about the government as funder, creator, and user of intellectual property, as well as music copyright issues. Marc Jenkins, an executive vice president at a litigation software and services company, will discuss information management, electronic document retention and production, and legal technology. Professor Jodi Wilson will present on assessing the use and value of nontraditional sources in legal writing. Professor Lyn Entriken will discuss the use of dictionaries as legal precedent. Professor John Joergensen, who previously spoke to the group in 7

8 Boston, will update us on the OASIS project. Leah also hopes to have presentations from Westlaw and LexisNexis on their new platforms. However, this will require the vendors to bring with them people expert in presenting on the platforms in addition to the government liaisons. There was discussion around the hot button issue and the desire to close the discussion of such issues to members. One such issue, how to issue errata and modifications, might be transformed into a round table discussion with the vendors; if so, that issue will be identified in the program as open. Ralph suggested that document management might be a focal point in future meetings. Brian added that management issues generally would be a fertile area for discussion topics in any meeting. c. External Outreach There have been a couple of inquiries about the 2015 meeting, one from an Assistant Reporter in Maryland. Attempts continue to encourage the Reporters in States such as California, Illinois, and North Carolina to attend. Mary Joe offered to form letters to welcome new Reporters and invite them to inquire about our organization. Mary Joe reported that she continues work on the brochure for new members and Reporters from other jurisdictions. She has replacement pictures for those not deemed acceptable previously. Mary Joe is also working on compiling a comprehensive list of who does reporting in each jurisdiction. There have been prior lists of this sort, but their whereabouts, currentness, and completeness are unknown. Site Selection The plan for the Columbus, OH meeting (August 4-7, 2016) is to hold all the sessions at the courthouse, meaning the hotel will only be supplying rooms, not meeting space, AV equipment, or catering. This should not affect our ability to negotiate rates. The details should be worked out by this year s annual meeting. Discussion turned to possible sites for the 2017 meeting. At the 2014 meeting, Toronto received many votes as the site for the 2016 meeting, so there might be strong sentiment among the members to select Toronto as the site of the 2017 meeting. The only negative is that 2017 is Canada s sesquicentennial year, so the organization might be better off going there in 2018, after the crowds have gone (but the renovations are still fresh). The board also suggested Lansing, given that the Michigan Reporter s office has supported the organization for several years and the organization last visited the state in To balance two northern cities with longitudes similar to those of Nashville and Columbus, the board also suggested Lake Tahoe. Brandee would offer local support, and the organization last visited there in Finally, with an eye to attracting Reporters from states that do not attend meetings, the board suggested Phoenix. Other Business The board is seeking members who would be willing to become Secretary next year. Brian Redmond David Power Appointed Deputy Registrar to the Supreme Court of Canada I am pleased to announce that David Power has been appointed Deputy Registrar of the Supreme Court of Canada, effective November 3, On behalf of all of us at the ARJD, I would like to congratulate David on his promotion and offer him our best wishes. François Boivin 8

9 Officers President: Susan P. Williams, Arkansas Supreme Court and Arkansas Court of Appeals Vice President: Brandee Mooneyhan, Nevada Supreme Court Treasurer: Kevin J. Loftus (Ret.), Supreme Court of Connecticut Secretary: Brian Redmond, Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court and Appeals Court Past President: Willam J. Hooks, New York State Law Reporting Bureau Committee Chairpersons Annual Meeting Chairperson: Susan P. Williams, Arkansas Supreme Court and Arkansas Court of Appeals Communications: François Boivin, Office of the Commissioner for Federal Judicial Affairs Canada Education: Leah A. Walker, Colorado Court of Appeals External Outreach: Mary Joe Beck, Supreme Court of Ohio The Catchline Editor: François Boivin, Office of the Commissioner for Federal Judicial Affairs Canada Assistant Editor: Charles Nezan, Office of the Commissioner for Federal Judicial Affairs Canada Newsletter Publisher/Layout & Design: April Patterson, Composition Specialist, Supreme Court of Nevada Distribution: Daniel Spurling, Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court and Appeals Courts Special Thanks To: Nancy Schreihans of the Nevada Commission on Judicial Discipline and April Patterson, Supreme Court of Nevada for the use of their photography in this issue. Volume XXXIV, No. 2 June 2015 ARJD Web site: ARJD Contact Information The Catchline (suggestions, comments, and questions): info.arjd@gmail.com ARJD Members Facebook page: (to send communications directly to all ARJD Facebook group members via Facebook Wall): members.arjd@groups.facebook.com Address Changes and Corrections? Please alert us by sending an to: info.arjd@gmail.com. 9