NEWS RELEASE

The National Center for State Courts
300 Newport Avenue · Williamsburg, Virginia  23185

Contact:
Lorri Montgomery
Communications Manager
The National Center for State Courts
757.259.1525 or lmontgomery@ncsc.dni.us 

Sheila Birnbaum Joins Lawyers Committee
 of National Court Reform Organization

Williamsburg, VA (March 8, 2004) – Sheila Birnbaum, partner with Skadden Arps Slate Meagher & Flom has joined the National Center for State Courts’ Lawyers Committee, which involves prominent practicing attorneys in the National Center’s work and programs. Committee members serve in a leadership role with a commitment to support the National Center’s mission, to actively participate in outreach to the bench, bar and the legal community, and to encourage support for the National Center’s programs and initiatives. Inaugural meetings were held recently in Washington, D.C. and in San Francisco in conjunction with the midyear meeting of the Conference of Chief Justices.

Birnbaum, who heads her firm’s Complex Mass Tort Group, specializes in toxic torts, product liability, and insurance coverage litigation. She recently successfully argued the case of Campbell v. State Farm before the U. S. Supreme Court. Prior to becoming a partner at Skadden, Arps, Birnbaum served as counsel to the firm while she was a law professor and associate dean at New York University School of Law. In October 2002, Birnbaum served as a panelist for the National Center’s annual Justice Roundtable in Washington, D.C., which focused on mass torts.

The National Center for State Courts, headquartered in Williamsburg, Va., is a non-profit court reform organization dedicated to improving the administration of justice by providing leadership and service to the state courts. The National Center, founded in 1971 by the Conference of Chief Justices and former Chief Justice Warren E. Burger, provides education, training, and technology, management, and research services to the nation’s state courts. The National Center also is taking the lead on several key issues facing the justice system. For example, it has established a major civil justice initiative, a multi-year project that is examining best practices in civil case management and how complex litigation procedures can be improved. Other national initiatives being driven by the National Center include judicial selection reform and increasing citizen participation in jury service.

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