By: Aaron Nash (AZ)

Arizona’s Judicial Branch established the Arizona State, Tribal and Federal Court Forum more than 30 years ago in 1994. The Forum provides unique opportunities for collaboration and cooperation between state, tribal, and federal court judges and representatives, including members of the public. Many of the represented courts hear appeals from lower courts in their jurisdictions, and some members are judges or court executives.

Given the Forum’s membership, I asked for a few minutes at their most recent meeting to talk about the National Conference of Appellate Court Clerks and how it might benefit their courts. My first NCACC conference was in Albuquerque, and I noted there was an interdisciplinary panel on federal, state, and tribal courts. I explained for the Forum’s members that, while such sessions could benefit them, the rest of NCACC’s membership would benefit from their backgrounds, experience, and expertise at our future conferences if they were to join. 

Arizona’s Forum’s goals align with NCACC’s mission:

• Fostering mutual understanding and acceptance of similarities and differences across each court and legal system.
• Promoting improvement in the quality of justice delivered in the context of overlapping jurisdictions through education, professional court administration, and resources sharing, as appropriate.
• Promoting respect for and recognition of judicial proceedings and judgments across jurisdictions to reduce the need for litigation regarding jurisdictional issues.
• Increasing operational communication, cooperation, and coordination amongst justice agencies.
• Promoting legislative, regulatory, and court rule changes for further coordination and cooperation.

The Forum’s members offered friendly thanks for my short presentation, but I didn’t get a good sense of whether knowing about NCACC will translate directly to new members. I remain hopeful, as I think only NCACC offers opportunities and improvements for everyone who works with appeals within and across jurisdictions. If your jurisdiction has a similar group, I recommend asking for a few minutes at one of their meetings to let them know NCACC is ready and willing to be a resource in their efforts.