Speech of 2008 CEDP Class Spokesperson
ANDREW m. GRAUBARD

Chief Justice Roberts, President McQueen, Vice President Meeks, Dean Gallas, faculty and staff of the National Center for State Courts, fellow classmates, family and friends.

I am truly honored to be presenting here today, as this is one of the most immense privileges that I have ever had.

Let me congratulate all of my classmates for completing their projects and fulfilling all the requirements of this program.  We have come a long way from the Webinars nearly a year and a half ago where we were all in our offices and homes thinking “what have I gotten myself into?”  We survived the three-week boot camp in Williamsburg, we persevered through our research papers, and we are now here, in the United States Supreme Court, receiving our diplomas.  We should all feel honored to have bestowed upon us the title of “Fellow of the Institute for Court Management.”

But, great achievement is usually born of great sacrifice.  Our sacrifices came in many different ways.  Prior to the start of this program, we all had significant responsibilities in our courts which, on a daily basis, consumed more than a days worth of time.  The demands placed on us by the justice system’s diminishing budgets, mounting caseloads, and judicial needs, are unrelenting, so, in order for any of us to have completed this program, we all needed to push ourselves even harder.  There may have been times for each one of us where we may have found ourselves a hare’s breadth away from admitting defeat.  Personally, as is strikingly obvious, being any type of hair away from anything for me was quite a threat.  Nonetheless, we all reorganized our schedules, worked extra hours, ate lunch at our desks, over-loaded our brains and further taxed our coworkers and subordinates. 

We spent three weeks in Williamsburg, away from our homes and families.  We had to sleep in unfamiliar beds, and place our diets at risk by relying on the creativity of the gastronomical wizards in the hotel lobby.

Upon our return back to our homes, we then found ourselves confined in pensive captivity of our projects.

And, as is always the case, life itself could not be placed on hold.  We are all adults with real life responsibilities, prosperities and adversities.  As individuals, some embraced the birth of new loved ones, while some struggled with the death of others.  Even as a group, we all had to accept the loss of one of our own with the untimely passing of our colleague and friend, Bob Lewis.

But, we all acted as professionals and temporarily reshuffled our lives and priorities.  The fact that each and every one of us is here today is a testament that not only have we each achieved positions in the court of great trust and responsibility, but we have also successfully taken on the challenge of this program, this additional commitment to continue to grow as court administrators and join the ranks of the ICM Fellows.  And with this title of “Fellow” comes even greater expectations and demands.  Whether we are enhancing our successes, cutting our losses, or learning from our mistakes, we are now better educated and equipped for the challenges of modern court administration.  We now have an even greater power to make a difference.  What we have done, and what we continue to do, as court administrators echoes throughout the community, state, country, and sometimes, even the world.

Today may be the culmination of our journey to reach the zenith of court administration accomplishments, but our labor is far from finished.   I have worked for the court for over 22 years, in addition to having the opportunity to experience the courts as a case party in three different occasions, in two different states.  And although each case had a completely different set of characteristics, they all brought to mind Roscoe Pound’s article, “The Causes of Popular Dissatisfaction with the Administration of Justice.”  Written over 100 years ago, many of the issues of 1906 remain issues of 2008, just with different parameters.  As a result of my tenure, and education in court administration, I understood what was going on and why, however, I couldn’t help but feel how frustrating some of the process must have been for the average citizen.  We need to continue to work side by side with the judiciary improving court administration and enhancing the public’s perception of the justice system.  We need to encourage other court managers to attend professional development programs offered by the Institute of Court Management and to take on the challenge of the Court Executive Development Program prompting them to research ways to further increase our effectiveness. 

And should you ever find yourself doubting your level of effectiveness as part of the justice system, please remember these words and take pride in the fact that:

Each time the gavel strikes, our often unsung efforts of court administration are unknowingly heralded throughout the courtroom,

Each time the gavel strikes, we have provided our judicial resources the ability to concentrate their efforts solely on judicial matters as warranted by each citizen of our community,

Each time the gavel strikes, we did our part to fulfill the commands of the Bill of Rights securing citizen’s liberties to enjoy a speedy trial, trial by jury, and due process, amongst many others and,

Each time the gavel strikes, vibrations reverberate throughout the courts which continue to shape, structure and fortify the system that we continue to strive to support and enhance.

The accolades that come with the accomplishments of this group do not belong to the graduates alone.  On behalf of the class of 2008, I would like to say “thank you” to the staff of the National Center for State Courts who helped us every step of the way, especially, our Dean, Geoff Gallas and our Educational Specialist, Toni Grainer.  I would also like to thank all our Chief Judges, Court Administrators and coworkers who supported us and had to put up with our added level of stress and finally, “thank you” to all our family and friends who also supported us, prodded us and sacrificed their time spent with us.

Mark Twain said, "The man who does not read good books has no advantage over the man who cannot read them."  All of us in this room need to be “those good books” for the court.  We have the ability, knowledge, skill and education to improve the justice system, so let’s not waste the talents that we have been given.  Don’t ever sit back and think that everything is working well …. keep looking for ways to make it work even better.

Today we celebrate becoming Fellows of the Institute for Court Management; it doesn’t get any better than this. Good luck and congratulations.