Trial News

Chief Justice Tells Lawmakers Court System Is Under “Great Strain”

Chief Justice John T. Broderick Jr., addressing a joint session of House and Senate lawmakers, said today that judges, marital masters and court staff are “laboring under great strain” as they work with limited resources to try to keep the administration of justice timely and efficient.

“Our staff of 596, for whom I have great affection and gratitude, has stepped up every time I have asked, but there are limits and I believe we have reached them,” Broderick said in his second State of the Judiciary address to the New Hampshire legislature.

Broderick noted progress since he last addressed lawmakers in 2005, including ongoing statewide expansion of the family division; small claims mediation in all district courts; private funding of “problem-solving” courts for drug users and mentally ill defendants; and development of new policy on public access to electronic court records. But the Chief Justice, said the court system is now at a “critical crossroads."

"In my judgment we need to be bold and farsighted in our vision and our actions, " the Chief Justice said. In his speech, he identified four major challenges facing the court system today:

The number of people who come to court without lawyers is growing and slowing down the court system
Broderick said that the increasing number of litigants who represent themselves in the court system requires the staff to spend time, either in the clerk’s office or on the phone, explaining the court process to them. “It’s not their fault—it’s just our reality. The result is delay, a decline in staff morale and a legal community and client base increasingly frustrated by the time it takes to process and forward court orders which are so important to their lives,” Broderick said.

In its 2008-09 budget request, the court system has asked the state to fund a recommendation by the Citizens Commission on the State Courts to provide more case managers in the trial courts, to assist pro se litigants and move cases more efficiently through the system. Read more at nh.gov.

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