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 

Daniel Wathen Joins Lawyers Committee
 of National Court Reform Organization

Williamsburg, VA (March 18, 2004) – Daniel Wathen of Pierce Atwood 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.

Wathen was appointed Chief Justice of the Maine Supreme Judicial Court in 1992, a position he held until 2001 when he resigned from the bench and joined Pierce Atwood.  Wathen concentrates on consultation, mediation, arbitration, and neutral evaluation. During his tenure on the bench, Wathen served as a member of the Board of Directors for the Conference of Chief Justices as well as for the National Center for State Courts. More recently he has served as chair of the Board of Directors of the National Judicial College and as a member of the advisory board to the Leadership Institute in Judicial Education.

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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