Of those, which two or three are the most difficult (please explain)?

-- Michael Berney (mberney@tmn.com), August 17, 1999

Answers

My judge and I were both new to the Court and the most difficult part was setting up a system with forms, procedures, etc. and remembering the latest instructions for paper flow, without becoming overwhelmed not only by the tremendous new responsibilities, but by the immense amount of paper!

-- Mary Wieczorek (Mary_Wieczorek@ck2.uscourts.gov), August 20, 1999.

I neglected to include in my previous response that not having some sort of training program and guidelines in setting up the chambers was an immense handicap. There are training materials and seminars for judges and law clerks, but nothing for secretaries. I appreciate all the assistance other "older" secretaries gave me in explaining and answering and just being there. While I realized that all chambers are unique, some sort of overall manual would have helped. The law clerk manuals were helpful but, of course, they're written from and for a different angle.

-- Mary Wieczorek (Mary_Wieczorek@ck2.uscourts.gov), August 23, 1999.

The most difficult change we have had to deal with is the constant interruption caused by an enormous amount of telephone calls for the purpose of scheduling pretrial conferences. The scheduling of status, discovery, and other pretrial conferences requires a tremendous amount of time and work and coordination between the secretary and Courtroom Deputy. It was a major change for our chambers, but made easier with the help of a very efficient Courtroom Deputy.

-- Diane R. Rimkis (drrimkis@nynd.uscourts.gov), December 23, 1999.