Legal system has rosy future

Jace Radke

Friday, Jan. 21, 2000 | 10:52 a.m.

In another 18 months this state will have one of the best court record systems in the country, instead of one of the worst, Nevada Supreme Court Chief Justice Bob Rose said Thursday.

Rose made his remarks to some of Nevada's top law officials during a reception at UNLV.

"There are challenges that will need to be addressed, but I think it has been remarkable what we've handled over the last 10 years," Rose said. "One of our biggest accomplishments has been instituting a uniform system for judicial records."

Last June the Supreme Court entered an order for all courts in the state to report statistics to the administrative office of the courts beginning on January 1.

"It will take about a year and a half to get all the statistics in, but once we have those we'll be among the best in reporting statistics in the country instead of one of the worst," Rose said. "It's important because the statistics can show the public and the Legislature how the courts are doing."

Some concerns expressed by Rose include increasing caseloads, getting the most production out of the judiciary's resources and the question of how much help the government and the courts should give to litigants who cannot afford an attorney or will not hire one.

Rose is hoping some of those problems can be addressed at the state's first ever judicial leadership conference in May. It will bring together all of Nevada's judges for a discussion on these and other problems.

Also attending Thursday's reception were state Attorney General Frankie Sue Del Papa; William Boyd School of Law Dean Richard Morgan; Dara Goldsmith, president of the Clark County Bar Association, and Ann Bersi, president of the State Bar of Nevada.