2008 Annual Report - Superior Court of California - County of Los ...

Looking Back
Looking Forward
As we take this opportunity to reflect upon the past year’s events and accomplishments, it
is important to think also about the future. Our ability to anticipate the boom and bust
of budget cycles has allowed us to plan better, by retrenching in good times, so we are
better prepared in the bad.
The past few years of relative budget stability have allowed us to pursue a number of
administrative improvements that will serve us well as we face a potential budget crisis:
■ Having implemented a new job classification and pay structure, we are better able to
attract and keep high-quality staff.
■ A comprehensive study of courtwide staffing has improved our ability to effectively and
efficiently deploy our staff.
■ Broader and more effective partnerships with legal-aid providers give us cost-effective
ways to provide quality assistance to litigants without lawyers.
■ Partnering with the Los Angeles County Sheriff ’s Department, we have improved the
safety of our courthouses and the efficiency with which they are secured.
■ Advances in Web-based services make it easier for people to manage their jury duty,
pay their traffic tickets and other things, while at the same time reducing the workload
on staff.
These strategies — investing in people, creating partnerships with service providers, and
streamlining our own services to make them easier to use — have made the administration of
justice in Los Angeles County both leaner and more effective. They will continue to serve us
well in meeting our future challenges.
As a branch of government, the courts share the burden of meeting the state’s fiscal
challenges. At the same time, as the judicial branch, we recognize that cutting services can
mean compromising justice — and that is not an option.
Over the coming months, we will be working closely with our justice partners across the
county, with our branch colleagues across the state, and with the executive and legislative
branches of government, to ensure that the Court can effectively meet its constitutional
mandates.
Every day our employees go to work with pride, knowing they work with the best judicial
officers in the world, doing some of the most important work anyone could do: providing
access to justice. They are great people, with great commitment and incredible talents. The
commitment they make every day, and that which I make now for the future, is that we will
maintain our standards of excellence through the coming fiscal crisis. The public deserves
nothing less.
John A. Clarke
Executive Officer/Clerk
Los Angeles Superior Court Annual Report 5