Confronting Confidentiality in Our Public Courts

Saturday, July 11, 2020, 11:00 am – 5:30 pm EDT – The Institute sponsored its 28th annual (and first-ever live webcast) Judges Forum, featuring an outstanding faculty and a broad audience of state court judges, academics, and attorneys. This complimentary judicial educational program addressed “Dangerous Secrets: Confronting Confidentiality in Our Public Courts.” Legal scholars, judges, practitioners, and members of the news media discussed the nature and extent of secrecy in our publicly-financed American courts and in the larger environment of negotiation, and considered means to combat dangerous secrecy in civil litigation. The Forum received ratings of “excellent” or “very good” from 95% of attendees who submitted evaluations. In the words of one judicial attendee, “As always, National Civil Justice Institute addresses important issues facing the judiciary but that are sometimes are overlooked.”