Judges’ specialization draws support

Bill Gang

Monday, Oct. 25, 1999 | 9:56 a.m.

Court specialization -- having judges handle only criminal or civil cases for a period of two years -- has its advocates, the Nevada Supreme Court learned Friday, but two-thirds of Clark County's district judges aren't among them.

The court structure was the focus of a rare public hearing Friday in which the Supreme Court opened the floor to comment from judges, lawyers and the public.

A majority of district judges want to scrap the system that was put into place two years ago. At the hearing in North Las Vegas, the judges complained that those who handle civil cases -- two-thirds of cases filed -- are so overworked that judges are getting burned out.

Currently nine of the county's 19 district judges preside over civil cases.

On the other hand, many of the district judges who handle criminal cases routinely leave the courthouse early unless they are in trial.

The Supreme Court justices agreed that the current system is inequitable, but the justices said they would consider other options before they decide what system to authorize.

The justices did not say when the high court will make its decision.

The majority of district judges offered an alternative that merges the structures.

The district judges' plan would combine calendars and let judges who desire spend half their time on civil cases and half on civil.

For those judges who want to continue specializing, the proposal would let them pair with judges who want to focus on the opposite kind of cases and split the workload 50-50.

Advocates for the combined calendar plan indicated that perhaps eight of the 18 trial judges -- the 19th judge is the chief judge who handles administrative matters and only a partial caseload -- would want to continue specialization under the proposed plan.

Such a system was not welcomed by those who work with the courts.

County Clerk Shirley Parraguirre said that reallocating caseloads would be a time-consuming and expensive proposition for her office.

District Attorney Stewart Bell and Clark County Public Defender Morgan Harris noted major changes also could affect their offices. Bell cautioned the high court against implementing any system that would require additional staffing in those offices, which are funded by Clark County.

Comments made during the hearing, however, indicated the high court likely would authorize an interim system while evaluating a long-term structure.

"The issue is how to correct the inequities and still provide customers with the service we want to provide," Justice Nancy Becker said.

Chief Justice Bob Rose suggested the problem could be solved by reducing the number of criminal judges and increasing the number of civil judges.

The suggestion was echoed by Chief District Judge Lee Gates, who favored the specialized system noting, "We're the most productive we've ever been."

A District Court-conducted survey of attorneys indicated that two-thirds favor specialization, and statistics showed that more trials are being conducted and more cases are being resolved.

Bell and Harris said that specialization has worked well for criminal cases. They preferred a plan that would reassign judges so that seven handle criminal cases while 11 take civil. Such a split shouldn't adversely affect their cases, Bell said.

"Subjectively our lawyers feel specialization is working well and resolving cases," Bell said.

Harris noted there have been "fewer hassles" under specialization than when judges split their time between civil and criminal cases. Under the old system judges conducted civil trials for three weeks and criminal trials for three weeks. That often caused delays when a trial went longer than expected.

Recently elected District Judge Michael Cherry complained that he and several other new judges have their backgrounds in criminal law yet are unfairly being assigned to handle only civil cases.

"Specialization is a farce," Cherry said. "I can be a much more efficient judge if I do both civil and criminal."

District Judge Stephen Huffaker, the most senior judge in District Court and a longtime advocate of specialization, said the court's productivity has improved in every category during the past two years.

"It has worked around the country and it works here," he said. "That doesn't mean the judges like it. Maybe they have to work harder."

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