TO BUNDLE OR UNBUNDLE? THAT IS THE QUESTION

A substantial number of parties either represent themselves or are partially represented in family law matters because they are unable to afford traditional full service representation. As this number continues to climb courts are taking a proactive approach in servicing self-represented litigants through self help centers. The following is a judge's perspective on how unbundled legal services assist the self represented and the courts as well as answers to ethical concerns should they arise.     

JUDICIALLY HOSTED SETTLEMENT CONFERENCES IN DOMESTIC RELATIONS CASES

Trial court judges have not traditionally been involved in facilitating negotiations in domestic relations cases. The move toward alternative dispute resolution presents opportunities to judges to involve themselves in assisting litigants and their attorneys to fashion agreements that are tailored to each family. This article examines the elements and variables inherent in settlement negotiations and domestic relations and makes suggestions for judges who host settlement conferences in family law cases.     

Understanding Mission Expansion in the Federal Home Loan Banks: A Return to Behavioral-Choice Theory

Congress established the Federal Home Loan Banks (FHLBs) in 1932 to pursue the public purpose of homeownership. Recently, three views of their mission have emerged; one is that their purpose is to help small banks to remain viable. Why did their mission expand in this direction? We argue that mission expansion is a process that is better understood in terms of behavioral choice than public choice. Change began when expert attention was directed to small banks in rural areas and officials innovated within the existing rules to address their needs. Recognizing the FHLBs' usefulness, community bankers sought a more fundamental change in their practice. Responding to the general interest in preserving small banks' viability, legislative entrepreneurs advanced permissive rule changes. These were implemented to different extents in individual FHLBs in response to local needs. The case illustrates the usefulness of the behavioral‐choice paradigm for understanding change in public agencies and suggests legitimacy for mission change and the value of maintaining publicly directed administrative capacity.     

FAMILY/CHILD JUDICIAL DISPUTE RESOLUTION (JDR)

This article outlines the Pilot Project in Pre-trial Judicial Settlement Conferencing in Family and Child Welfare/Protection Matters, which was designed and implemented by the authors, The Honourable Judge Nancy A. Flatters of the Provincial Court of Alberta, Family and Youth Court, at Calgary. The article also outlines the basis, rationale, and development underlying this emerging nontraditional judicial approach to the resolution of these disputes and the resulting settlement outcomes.     

Statistical evaluation of the evidential value of human hairs possibly coming from multiple sources

A concept of the mathematical evaluation of human hair evidence is derived. This concept can be realized in a special computer program, the output of which is an incrimination probability. The problems of not knowing the true number of sources and the correct partition of hairs corresponding to their sources are solved from the point of view of avoiding an unjustified incrimination.     

WILLIAM H. REHNQUIST AWARD ADDRESS

The William H. Rehnquist Award is one of the most celebrated judicial honors in the country. ¹ It is given each year to a state court judge who demonstrates the "highest level of judicial excellence, integrity, fairness, and professional ethics." ² The 2004 recipient, Judge Leonard Edwards, is the Supervising Judge of the Santa Clara County, California juvenile dependency court. ³ He is the first juvenile court judge to receive this prestigious award. During the 24 years he has held his position, Judge Edwards has worked extremely hard to improve how the juvenile court system serves troubled families. He has founded two organizations to achieve this end, the Juvenile Court Judges of California and the Santa Clara County Domestic Violence Council. ⁴ Judge Edwards serves as a lead judge in San Jose's Model Court, which is one of twenty-five jurisdictions in the country which utilizes new ideas and techniques to improve adoption rates for children in foster care. ⁵ Moreover, he has worked as president of the National Council of Juvenile and Family Court Judges. ⁶ Below is the speech he gave after accepting the award from U.S. Supreme Court Justice Anthony M. Kennedy. The speech notes the importance of the award to everyone working in America's juvenile courts.