Case Management Innovation in a Large, Urban Trial Court: The Critical Importance of Legal Stakeholder Attitudes

This article, based on research conducted in the Circuit Court of Cook County (Chicago) from June 2006 through March 2007, addresses the challenge of a large, urban felony court in reducing delay through the introduction of a Differentiated Case Management (DCM) system. The research design incorporates an empirical data analysis of caseflow and an opinion survey of over 500 legal stakeholders. While the court demonstrated a positive clearance rate, there was evidence of considerable case delay and backlog in the active pending caseload. In stark contrast, the survey findings indicate a lack of stakeholder awareness of case delay, a low level of acceptance of felony time standards, and a general concern that an expedited pace of case management, through the introduction of a DCM system, might cause injustice. The implications of these findings for the future success of Differentiated Case Management in this court are discussed, as is the relevance of the findings for other jurisdictions interested in improving case management.