State Supreme Court counsel named a 'Leader in the Law'

Saline resident honored by Michigan Lawyers Weekly Matthew Schneider, the Michigan Supreme Court's Chief of Staff and General Counsel, has been recognized as a "Leader in the Law" by Michigan Lawyers Weekly. A former federal prosecutor, Schneider was honored for his role in reforms to Michigan's judicial branch, including advocating for, and helping to draft, legislation to eliminate 36 trial court judgeships that were no longer justified by those courts' workloads. Schneider also helped draft and successfully advocated for Public Act 338 of 2012 to make it easier for courts to adopt concurrent jurisdiction plans. Concurrent jurisdiction plans allow circuit, probate, and district courts within the same judicial circuit to combine some functions and administration, making courts more efficient and improving public service. Schneider is a 2000 graduate of the University of Michigan Law School and an adjunct professor at the Michigan State University College of Law, where he teaches advanced criminal procedure. He said he is deeply honored to be recognized, but added that the court reform work he's done so far is just the first wave. "Our focus now is on performance measurement and technology, both of which are critical to helping the courts provide the best public service possible," he said. Of particular importance is the Next Generation case information project, Schneider said. "The Michigan state courts don't have a single centralized system with detailed case information; NextGen will fill that void," he said. "NextGen was successfully piloted in Berrien County in August 2012; now the goal is to implement it in every one of the 249 trial court locations that currently use a system supported by Judicial Information Systems, the information technology division of the State Court Administrative Office. Ultimately, we hope every state trial court will be on NextGen." Schneider and colleagues plan to advocate for the restoration of $2.5 million in funding for the NextGen project; Governor Rick Snyder included the funding in his proposed budget for the judiciary, but that funding was not included in budgets reported by Senate and House judiciary budget subcommittees. "With that funding, we're looking at a five-year roll-out of NextGen, which is still longer than we'd like, but without the funding, we're looking at a much longer wait to get to a statewide system - perhaps as long as 20 years," Schneider said. "We don't think the Michigan public should have to wait that long for all the improvements that a unified case management system offers." Before joining the Supreme Court in 2011, Schneider was an assistant U.S. attorney in Detroit, where he started in 2003; he served in the Public Corruption Unit, which investigates and prosecutes corrupt public officials, organized crime, drug traffickers, and others. His responsibilities included training other attorneys and law enforcement officials. From 2002-2003, Schneider served as senior advisor and assistant general counsel in the White House Budget Office, where he provided legal and policy advice to cabinet members and senior presidential staff. From 2000-2002, he was an associate in the Washington, D.C. law firm of Wiley, Rein & Fielding L.L.P., where he advised clients on business and trade issues. From 1996-1997, he served as public events and advance coordinator for Governor John Engler. Published: Thu, Mar 28, 2013

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