Dale Sipes, a longtime advocate
for court improvement and friend of the National Center for State Courts (NCSC),
passed away on October 10 following an extended illness.
Dale’s work as an NCSC staff attorney and consultant reached courts
around the world. She was
recognized for her work in caseflow management and for her groundbreaking book
On Trial:
The Length of Civil and Criminal Trials (1988).
One of her major contributions was helping to establish NCSC’s
International Program, which has since expanded to offices in eight different
countries.
Her commitment to improving justice
also extended well beyond her affiliation with NCSC.
From 1995 to 2001, Dale was deputy administrative director of the
California Administrative Office of the Courts, where her responsibilities
ranged from Judicial Council governance and secretariat services to statewide
trial court strategic planning to the court interpreters program to jury
innovations to statewide research services.
Dale Sipes and her husband, Larry, were inducted into NCSC’s Warren
E. Burger Society in 2004 for their significant contributions and support to
the work of the organization. Larry
is also a past president of NCSC.
Dale is survived by Larry and their
children, Laurel and Todd; by her parents, Mr. and Mrs. John Howard of
Bethesda Maryland; and by her brother, Jack Howard of St. Petersburg Florida.
The entire National Center for State Courts family of staff, board
members, and affiliated associations extends condolences to the Sipes family.
