The Pursuit of High Performance

Abstract

Dr. Ostrom has been at the NCSC for over twenty years. His research activities range from the study of felony sentencing and development of structured sentencing systems to civil justice reform to strategies for creating high performance courts. His interest in high performance grew primarily out of work with several state court systems regarding efforts to improve court organizational effectiveness through careful assessment of court management culture, judicial workload and court performance.. Dr. Kleiman has worked extensively in the US and abroad on projects relating to the development of resource assessment models for judicial officers, court staff, prosecutors and public defenders. His research emphasizes the development of tools for justice system partners to effectively and efficiently manage their organizations. The Framework summarized in this article reflects valuable input and advice from colleagues at the NCSC including Tom Clarke, Richard Schauffler, and Dan Hall. In addition, a fifteen member group of expert judges and court managers offered constructive criticism and suggestions for future developments. Shannon Roth ably assisted in the preparation of this essay and the Framework. Finally, the article benefitted greatly from the comments of an anonymous reviewer. We appreciate all of these efforts although we are responsible for the final product. Introduction A common focal point of conversation when judges from different countries meet is how their respective legal processes are different. Certainly true distinctions exist among the range of legal systems extant in the world. Civil law, common law, religious law, customary law, Sharia, and their combinations exhibit real and substantial alternatives in how, why and when court business is conducted. Yet, underneath this variation, there are striking similarities.