Category: Lessons from the Clerk’s Desk
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Court Administration: The Work Behind the Work
Most people associate the court with what happens on court day—cases being called, orders being signed, and fines being paid. What is less visible is the administrative side of the court, where much of the real work takes place long before and long after anyone steps into a courtroom. Court administration is not a day-to-day…
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10 Thing Every Court Clerk Should Do/Know
These points may seem simple, but most issues in a clerk’s office come back to one of these areas. 1. Learn Your Court’s Workflow First Understand how a case moves from start to finish in your court—not just in theory.If you don’t understand the flow, you will always feel behind. 2. Docket Everything — Every…
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Stop Waiting on “The Right Time” to Fix What’s Not Working
There’s a pattern most of us fall into at some point in this job. We see something that isn’t working. We know there’s probably a better way. But we don’t move on it. Not because we don’t care—but because it feels like it’s going to be a process. Too many steps. Too many people involved.…
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What Every Clerk Should Check Before Court Starts
Before court begins, there are a few key things that should always be verified. Taking a few minutes to check these items can prevent confusion, delays, and unnecessary stress once court is in session. Quick Pre-Court Checklist Before court starts, make sure: Why This Matters Once court begins, things move quickly. If something is missing…
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Court Doesn’t Run on Its Own: The Prep No One Sees
People see court day. They see the judge on the bench, attorneys at the tables, defendants waiting, and cases moving through the docket. What they don’t see is everything that happens before that. Court doesn’t run on its own. It Starts Long Before Court Day In our office, we start preparing for the next court…
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The Notes I Keep That Make Me a Better Clerk
Every day in this job, something happens that could make your court better—if you catch it. An inefficiency.A process that needs rethinking.Something that went wrong in court.Something that went really well.An idea that pops into your head in the middle of everything else going on. The challenge is not noticing those things. The challenge is…
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The Memory Jar I wish I’d Started
This is more of a reflection than a training note, but it’s something I’ve thought about a lot lately. Looking back over the last several years and realizing just how much things have changed since I first stepped into the clerk’s office, there is one thing I wish I had done from the very beginning.…
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My First Conference – And the Moment Everything Changed
I was sworn in as Municipal Court Clerk on July 1, 2022. By the time the September conference rolled around, I felt like I was barely keeping my head above water. Like many new clerks, I stepped into an office that was short staffed, overloaded with work, and running on processes that no longer worked.…
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AI in the Clerk’s Office: A tool, Not a Shortcut
Artificial intelligence has received a great deal of attention in the legal community over the past few years. Much of that attention has focused on situations where attorneys relied on AI-generated legal research that contained inaccurate information, sometimes even citing court cases that did not exist. These incidents have raised concerns about how AI tools…