Judicial Institute earns national recognition

The Judicial Division of the American Bar Association has selected the Michigan Judicial Institute (MJI) as its recipient of the 2015 Judicial Education Award. 

The award recognizes MJI for“successful efforts in providing high quality judicial education and training to Michigan judges.”

“Our goal is to ensure that judges have access to the latest information about changes in caselaw, statutes, or court rules so that they are equipped to properly handle the cases they hear,” said Dawn McCarty, MJI’s director. “At the same time, the resources we offer help courts statewide be more efficient and enhance service to the public. This award is a credit to our most valuable resource – our staff who is dedicated to serving the trial courts.”

McCarty said MJI provides educational resources to Michigan’s judges, employees of the judiciary, and the general public.

MJI services range from the publication “benchbooks” as reference guides for Michigan judges to juror orientation videos.

Some of the services MJI offers include:

• Live and web-based seminars for judicial branch employees.
• Legal reference publications for Michigan judges.
• Overseeing the Michigan Supreme Court Learning Center - an educational experience for the general public, children and adults.
• IMPACT, an e-mail and podcast service that delivers summaries of recent court and legislative activity affecting trial court procedures.

MJI is a unit of the State Court Administrative Office, the administrative arm of the Michigan Supreme Court. 

MJI’s educational mission helps to fulfill the court’s strategic objectives: measuring performance and adopting best practices and implementing technology and increasing access as well as re-engineering court processes and improving service.