Division Staff

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Williamsburg Staff

Washington, DC Staff

Chantal Bromage • cbromage@ncsc.org

Chantal Bromage is a Court Research Analyst at the National Center for State Courts.  Her current project work includes The Court Statistics Project, the Civil Justice Survey of 2005, designing a Continuity of Court Operations Planning Guide and Curriculum, and the National Campaign to Ensure Racial and Ethnic Fairness in the Courts.  Ms. Bromage co-authored the Problem-Solving Justice Toolkit, and served as assistant editor and contributing author for the monograph Emergency Preparedness in Dependency Courts: Ten Questions That Courts Serving Abused and Neglected Children Must Address.   Since joining the NCSC, she has also helped to coordinate a National Summit on Court Safety and Security and a Forum for Presiding Judges and Court Executives.  Chantal has also completed project work in the areas of attorney workload, court performance, and domestic violence. 

Ms. Bromage holds a Master of Public Policy from the Thomas Jefferson Program in Public Policy at the College of William and Mary, and a Bachelor of Science in Psychology from St. Lawrence University.  For a complete resume, click here.

Pam Casey • pcasey@ncsc.org

Pamela Casey, Principal Court Research Consultant of the NCSC's Research Division, holds a Ph.D. in psychology.  Since joining the NCSC in 1986, she has conducted numerous national-scope research projects on a variety of court topics such as the measurement of court performance, public trust and confidence in the justice system, and court responses to individuals in need of services.  Currently, Dr. Casey directs the NCSC’s Best Practices Institute and the Center for Court Solutions, a joint initiative of the State Justice Institute, the NCSC, and the Center for Effective Public Policy.  She also works with the Conference of Chief Justices and the Conference of State Court Administrators in their efforts to implement their resolution in support of problem-solving courts.  She recently coauthored Problem-Solving Courts: Models and Trends as part of her work in this area. For a complete resume, click here.

Fred Cheesman • fcheesman@ncsc.org

Dr. Fred Cheesman is a Senior Research Associate with the National Center for State Courts. He graduated with a Ph.D. from the Public Policy and Management Program at the Ohio State University in 1993. Major projects completed with the National Center for State Courts include a cost-benefit analysis of the Midtown Manhattan Community Court, an evaluation of blended sentencing in Minnesota, Judicial Leadership to Reduce the Incidence of Impaired Driving, Evaluation of the Integration of an Empirically-Based Risk Assessment Instrument into Structured Sentencing,  and an investigation into the Impact of Prisoner Litigation Reform, Anti-terrorism and Effective Death Penalty Acts. Previous experience includes 14 years as a researcher and systems analyst with the Ohio Department of Youth Services, a visiting professorship at Indiana University, and three years as an assistant professor at the University of Baltimore, with a joint appointment in the Criminal Justice and Public Administration programs.  For a complete resume, click here.

Thomas Clarke • tclarke@ncsc.org

Tom Clarke has worked in federal and state government positions for over twenty years as a researcher, applied statistician and technology manager. He also has academic and international justice consulting experience. For the last twelve years, Tom worked in the court community as a researcher, state court CIO and now as the Research and Technology Vice President at the National Center for State Courts. In recent years, he has represented the courts on several national technical standards committees and Washington State IT governance and architecture committees. Tom has a strong interest in the use of technology as a business enabler and in the redesign of court services to improve efficiency and service levels through the use of best practices.

Nikiesha Cosby • ncosby@ncsc.org

Nikiesha Cosby is a Program Specialist in the Research Division of the National Center for State Courts. She provides administrative support to Mrs. Wanda Romberger, Ms Carola Green, and the following projects: the Federal Court Interpreter Certification Examination Program and the Consortium for State Court Interpreter Certification.  She also provides administrative support for the Federal Court Interpreter Certification Examination project's on-line ordering system.

Denise Dancy • ddancy@ncsc.org

Ms. Dancy is a Court Research Associate in the Research Division of the NCSC.  She concurrently received, with honors, her B.A. in Sociology and a career certification in Telecommunications and Internet Programming.  Work prior to coming to the NCSC included coordinating diversion and court-ordered programs for at-risk and court-involved youth, and providing technology training to community and government organizations. She has also been widely involved in numerous community organizations centered on child/family needs, advocacy and court processes – including as a Court Appointed Special Advocate (CASA). Her work at the NCSC has included Judicial Education on Substance Abuse, Evaluating Blended Sentencing of Juveniles in Minnesota, Evaluation of the Virginia Alcohol and Safety Action Program, and Assessing the Statewide Needs of Drug Courts.  She is also a regular contributor to the NCSC’s Family Violence Forum newsletter  and has co-authored the Developing a Domestic Violence Policy for the Workplace manual.  Other NCSC work centers on judicial selection, judicial campaign conduct,  judicial training on victims’ rights,  Extending Project Passport and the coordination of inter- and intrastate protective orders. For a complete resume, click here.

Ilonka G. Dazevedo • idazevedo@ncsc.org

Ilonka G. Dazevedo is a Senior Administrative Specialist in the Research Division of the National Center for State Courts.  Ms. Dazevedo provides administrative support to Dr. Fred L. Cheesman, II, Dr. Brenda K. Uekert and Dr. Nicole L. Waters. Among the projects she supports are: Blended Sentencing:  On Target for Juvenile Justice and Public Safety, COSCA Domestic Violence Initiative and the 2005 Civil Justice Survey of State Courts.  She also provides web site support for the research department web pages. 

Carola E. Green • cgreen@ncsc.org

Carola E. Green is a Federally Certified Court Interpreter, a California certified medical interpreter and a former California certified English/Spanish court interpreter.  She currently coordinates the Court Interpreting Testing Services & Operations for the Consortium for State Court Interpretation Certification (CSCIC) at the National Center for State Courts and provides staff support for the Federal Court Interpreter Certification Examination (FCICE) Program.  She has over 10 years of professional interpreting experience and over 15 years teaching/training experience and is a Certified Interpreter through the University of California, San Diego, Interpreters training program.  She has worked closely with the Office of Minority Health and all the Health Promotion programs at Vista Community Clinic in Vista , CA by providing staff training and collaborating on the development of culturally and linguistically appropriate materials and outreach protocols. She serves on the Standards, Training, & Certification Committee for the National Council for Interpretation in Health Care (NCIHC), served on the Standards & Certification Committee for the California Healthcare Interpreters Association, is a founding member and former CHIA Board Vice-President, and taught as an Adjunct Professor at SouthWestern Community College in Chula Vista,CA.  Ms. Green has co-authored and co-edited several publications including the NCIHC Standards of Practice for Interpreters in Health Care, National Code of Ethics for Interpreters in Health Care, and California Standards for Healthcare Interpreters - Ethical Principles, Protocals, and Guidance on Roles & Intervention.  While working as Team Leader at  Cedars Sinai  Medical Center, Interpreter Services Department in  Los Angeles , CA , she supervised the provision of in-house support to Limited English Proficient patients, in over 30 languages using staff/roster interpreters and 140 languages using outside resources. For a complete resume, click here.

Paula Hannaford-Agor • phannaford@ncsc.org

Paula L. Hannaford-Agor, the Director of the Center for Jury Studies, joined the Research Division of the National Center in May 1993.  In this capacity, she regularly conducts research and provides technical assistance and education to courts and court personnel on the topics of jury system management and trial procedure; civil litigation; and complex and mass tort litigation.

Specific research efforts include:

• A national survey of judges, lawyers, and jury managers on existing jury improvement efforts;

• A national study of civil bench and jury trials in 46 large, urban courts in 2001;

• A multi-site examination of the frequency and causes of hung juries in felony cases;

• An analysis of judicial removal of jurors for cause and attorney use of peremptory challenges in the Superior Courts of California;

• A compilation of innovations in jury management technology; and

• An evaluation of the impact of Arizona Civil Rule 39(f) permitting jurors in civil cases to discuss the evidence among themselves.

She has authored or contributed to numerous books and articles on the American jury including Jury Trial Innovations (2d ed. forthcoming 2005), The Promise and Challenges of Jury System Technology (NCSC 2003), and Managing Notorious Trials (1998).  She is faculty for the ICM courses Jury System Management and Promise and Challenges of Jury System Technology.  As adjunct faculty at William & Mary Law School, she teaches a seminar on the American jury.

Ms. Hannaford-Agor received the 2001 NCSC Staff Award for Excellence.  In 1995, she received her law degree from William & Mary Law School and a Masters degree in Public Policy from the Thomas Jefferson Program in Public Policy of the College of William and Mary.

For a complete resume, click here.

William Hewitt • bhewitt@ncsc.org

Mr. Hewitt is a Principal Court Research Consultant.  His recent work has focused on language interpreting in the courts.  He currently directs the Federal Court Interpreter Certification Project for the Administrative Office of the United States Courts and the Consortium for State Court Interpreter Certification (35 member states).  The Consortium was a 1997 semi-finalist in the Innovations in American Government Award Program sponsored by the Ford Foundation and Harvard University Kennedy School of Government.  Mr. Hewitt also serves as project director or principal investigator for research on a wide range of judicial administration issues, including court interpretation, trial court performance standards, caseflow management and court delay; models of trial court organization and their relationship to performance; court reporting practice and technology; and defense services for indigents.  Before joining the National Center Mr. Hewitt worked at county and state levels in court management.  Mr. Hewitt was a Woodrow Wilson Fellow, and he is a Fellow of the Institute for Court Management.  Major publications of interest include:

Court Interpretation: Model Guides for Policy and Practice in the State Courts

Computer Aided Transcription: Current Technology and Court Applications

Videotaped Trial Records:  Evaluation and Guide

Courts That Succeed:  Six Profiles of Successful Courts

Trial Court Structure and Performance: A Contemporary Reappraisal,  

For a complete resume, click here.

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Matthew Kleiman • mkleiman@ncsc.org

Matthew Kleiman is a Senior Court Research Associate with the National Center for State Courts.  He works extensively on projects relating to the development of statewide resource assessment models for judicial officers, court staff, and public defender attorneys and staff.   Specifically, Dr. Kleiman served as project director for the development of staffing standards, based on a weighted caseload model, for the allocation and projection of future resource needs in Alabama (judicial officer study) and Ontario, Canada (justices of the peace study) and as project manager of statewide studies in New Hampshire and Wisconsin (judicial officer studies), Minnesota (court staff study), and Maryland and New Mexico (public defender attorney and staff study).  Additional project work focuses on: the use of alternative sanctions at the time of sentencing; an evaluation of a risk assessment instrument for the diversion of non-violent offenders in Virginia; the development of a new framework to help understand court culture; and the development and implementation of a set of court specific performance measures CourTools.  He received a Ph.D. in Political Science from Michigan State University and a B.A. from the State University of New York at Binghamton.  For a complete resume, click here.

Agape Kokovidis-Zagaris • akokovidis@ncsc.org

Agape Kokovidis-Zagaris is a Senior Administrative Specialist in the Research Division of the National Center for State Courts. She provides administrative support to Mrs. Wanda Romberger, Ms Carola Green, and the following projects: the Federal Court Interpreter Certification Examination Program and the Consortium for State Court Interpreter Certification. 

Robert LaFountain • nlafountain@ncsc.org   

Robert C. (Neil) LaFountain is a Senior Court Research Analyst at the National Center for State Courts and in 2004 celebrated his 20^th anniversary with the organization.  He has been primary staff on the Court Statistics Project (CSP) since 1992, as well as all four iterations of the Civil Justice Survey of State Courts (1992, 1996, 2001, and 2005).  In addition, Mr. LaFountain has worked on judicial and staff needs assessment studies in Alabama , California , Florida , Maryland , Michigan , New Mexico , Minnesota , Tennessee , and Wisconsin .  He is the co-author of several recent publications including: CourTools; a Cornell Law Review article, Juries, Judges, and Punitive Damages: An Empirical Study;; the State Court Guide to Statistical Reporting; the CSP annual report, Examining the Work of State Courts; Caseload Highlights featuring the Guide; civil trial litigation, and the NACM Felony Network; and a Special Report for BJS, Tort Trials and Verdicts in Large Counties, 1996.  Mr. LaFountain was the 1998 recipient of the National Center ’s Jeanne A. Ito Award and one of the inaugural recipients of the Robert W. Tobin Achievement Award (2005). For a complete resume, click here. 

Stephanie Montgomery • smontgomery@ncsc.org

Stephanie Montgomery is a Senior Administrative Specialist in the Research Division of the National Center for State Courts.  Ms. Montgomery provides administrative support to Dr. David B. Rottman, and Dr. Pamela M. Casey. Among the projects she supports are: State Court Organization, 2004, The Solutions Project, the Problem-Solving Court Toolkit Project and the Election Law Program.

G. Thomas Munsterman • tmunsterman@ncsc.org

G. Thomas Munsterman is Director of the Center for Jury Studies of the National Center for State Courts and was one of the incorporators of the Center for Jury Studies.  He has spent over 30 years working on improving the process of trial by jury.  He is author of Jury System Management (1996) and co-editor of Jury Trial Innovations (1997), Manual for Cooperation Between State and Federal Courts (1997).   He is co-author of  Managing Notorious Trials, 1998, and a commissioned paper "Innovations in Jury Trial Procedures" for the ABA/Brookings Institution symposium on the future of the Civil Jury System in the US.  He helped plan and conduct “Jury Summit 2001” at which over 400 judges, attorneys, academics and jurors met to hear of the progress of jury system improvement efforts.  He worked with the Jury Committee of the Federal Ninth Circuit in the preparation of their "Manual of Jury Trial Procedures".  He has worked with the ABA/JD Committee on Jury Standards since its inception in 1982 in the development, implementation and revision of trial court jury standards.  He served as a consultant to New York’s Jury Project and the California Blue Ribbon Commission on Jury System Improvements. Mr. Munsterman has written many papers, directed research, and spoken on many aspects of jury systems, ranging in topics from multiple source lists, juror attitudes, the impact of variations in jury size to the evaluation of many jury innovations.  He has a column on “Jury News” in the quarterly publication of the National Association for Court Management, Court Manager.  He has taught a course on Jury System Management for the Institute for Court Management since 1974.  He has served on the faculty for many state judicial education programs and has been a faculty member at the National Judicial College for 14 years.  He has testified as the court's witness in cases concerning jury representativeness and jury management and has testified before state legislative committees.  In 1993, he was part of a team sent to Russia to provide technical assistance for the reintroduction of the right to trial by jury and he remains a resource for Russia and several other countries.  In 2004, he was appointed to the American Bar Association’s Commission on the American Jury and it’s American Jury Project.   He has received the NCSC’s Distinguished Service Award.   Mr. Munsterman was formerly a Senior Associate and Project Director of Jury Systems Projects at Bird Engineering Research Associates and Staff Engineer at the Applied Physics Laboratory, Johns Hopkins University.  He holds a BSEE from Northwestern University and a MSE from George Washington University.  For a complete resume, click here.

Brian Ostrom • bostrom@ncsc.org

Brian J. Ostrom, Ph.D. is a Principal Court Research Consultant with the National Center for State Courts in Williamsburg , Virginia .  Dr. Ostrom has extensive training and experience in performance evaluation and using a wide range of quantitative and qualitative analysis techniques to understand and overcome problems in the courts.  Since coming to the NCSC in 1989, his main research activities have focused on many subject areas, including the study of felony sentencing and the development of structured sentencing systems, civil justice reform, the methodology of judge and staff workload assessment, and court organizational development and performance assessment.

In recent years, Dr. Ostrom has served as the principal investigator for large-scale judicial system workload studies in the states of Michigan (1997-8), Florida (1999-2000), California (2000-3), Minnesota (2002-3), New Hampshire (2004-2005), and Wisconsin (2005-2006) as well as the Maryland public defender system (2003-2005).  He is currently working on resource assessment projects in California , Florida , and Texas .

In addition, he is currently assisting several state court systems with efforts to improve court organizational effectiveness through careful assessment of court management culture and court performance.  He led the development of the Court Culture Assessment Instrument and the CourTools performance measurement system.  

Additional project work in the area of felony sentencing focuses on the use of alternative sanctions at the time of sentencing; an evaluation of a risk assessment instrument for the diversion of non-violent offenders in Virginia; and appropriate means for Assessing Consistency and Fairness in Sentencing. 

Dr. Ostrom also brings extensive knowledge of state court operations through having served as the director of the Court Statistics Project from 1994 to 2004. 

Prior to joining the National Center , Dr. Ostrom worked as a research analyst for the Michigan State Court Administrative Office.  Dr. Ostrom received his Ph.D. in economics from the University of Washington .  He received the NCSC Distinguished Service Award in 1997.  In addition, Dr. Ostrom teaches in the economics department at the College of William and Mary and is a faculty member for the Institute for Court Management.  For a complete resume, click here

Brenda Otto • botto@ncsc.org

Brenda Otto is a Program Specialist in the National Center for State Courts’ Research Division. Ms. Otto provides administrative support to Paula Hannaford-Agor, Director, Center for Jury Studies on the following projects: Increasing Citizen Participation in Jury Service, Are Hung Juries A Problem?, Evaluation of the Centers for Complex Civil Litigation Pilot Program, Jury Size, The Promise and Challenges of Jury System Technology, The Self-Help Friendly Court: Designed from the Ground Up to Work for People Without Lawyers, and Communicating with Juries: How to Draft More Understandable Jury Instructions. Ms. Otto also provides support to Richard Schauffler, on the Court Statistics Project which produces the publications, Examining the Work of State Courts, State Court Caseload Statistics and the Caseload Highlights series as well as assisting with the CourTools Initiative. In addition, she provides administrative support to Denise Dancy, Project Director, Extending Project Passport.

Pam Petrakis • ppetrakis@ncsc.org

Pam Petrakis, of the National Center for State Courts Research Division, provides direct support to Dr. Thomas M. Clarke, Vice President of Research and Technology.  In addition, Ms. Petrakis is an administrative manager for the Division and maintains division electronic and manual files research projects, and proposals of new projects.  She is a liaison to NCSC’s divisions, their funding agencies, and their constituents.

William E. Raftery • wraftery@ncsc.org

Bill Raftery is a court research analyst with the National Center for State Courts in Williamsburg, VA. His current work includes research on legislative-judicial relations, judicial selection, judicial conduct committees and court security; editing Gavel to Gavel, a weekly review of legislation in all fifty states affecting the courts; and preparation of the Court Statistics Project’s annual publications Examining the Work of State Courts and State Court Caseload Statistics. He serves on the editorial board of The Justice System Journal and was the editor of the National Association for Court Management’s Court Security Guide. Bill received his M.P.A. degree from John Jay College of Criminal Justice with a specialization in court administration. He is currently enrolled in Virginia Commonwealth University’s PhD program in Public Policy and Administration. For a complete resume, click here.

Wanda Romberger • wromberger@ncsc.org

As Manager of Court Interpreting Services in the Research Division of the National Center for State Courts in Williamsburg, Virginia, Wanda Romberger serves as Project Manager for the administration of the Federal Court Interpreter Certification Examination (FCICE) under contract with the Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts.  In addition, she coordinates and facilitates the activities of the Consortium for State Court Interpreter Certification in its efforts to develop test materials and other measures of language interpreter proficiency.  She advances the interests of the National Center's interpreter practice area, providing technical assistance and training to the state courts, and contributes to other practice areas such as court reporting and child support enforcement.

Immediately prior to joining the National Center, Mrs. Romberger was a Court Operations Consultant with Florida’s Office of the State Courts Administrator and Program Manager with the Eighth Judicial Circuit Court in Gainesville, Florida.  Mrs. Romberger is a former elected Prothonotary and Clerk of Courts for the Court of Common Pleas of Bradford County, Pennsylvania, serving in that capacity for two terms of office from 1984 through 1992.  She hold a B.S. in Business and is a Fellow of the Institute of Court Management, the National Center's premier judician branch education organization. For a complete resume, click here.

Shannon Roth • sroth@ncsc.org

Shannon Roth is an Administrative Manager with the Research Division of the National Center for State Courts.  She currently supports the following projects:  Assessing Consistency and Fairness in Sentencing; California Court Performance, and Orange County Court Culture, as well as workload studies for Texas, Alabama, Ontario, and Virginia.  In addition, Ms. Roth assists Ms. Pam Petrakis with maintaining division electronic and manual files for research projects, proposals of new projects, and the general administrative support for the Research Division.

Prior to joining the Research Division, Shannon worked in NCSC’s External Affairs Department on the Ninth and Tenth Court Technology Conferences.

David Rottman • drottman@ncsc.org

David B. Rottman, Ph.D., is a Principal Court Research Consultant at the National Center for State Courts, where he has worked since 1987.  His responsibilities include compilation of four editions in the State Court Organization reference series; including the recently published 2004 edition.  His research interests include minority group perceptions of the courts and methodologies for measuring public opinion on the courts, the pros and cons of problem-solving courts (also look here), judicial selection, and judicial campaign oversight committees.   Dr. Rottman is a former director of the Court Statistics Project and is the lead staff for the joint NCSC/College of William and Mary School of Law "Election Law Program".  His recent publications include “State Judicial Branches:  Challenges and Achievements”, “The White Decision in the Court of Opinion” in Court Review, "Trust and Confidence in the California Courts, 2005, A survey of the Public and Attorneys, Part 1: Findings and Recommendations" and "The State Courts in 2005: A Year of Living Dangerously".  A sociologist, Dr. Rottman is the author of books on community justice, social class, and contemporary Ireland. For a complete resume, click here.

 

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Richard Schauffler • rschauffler@ncsc.org

Richard Schauffler, Director of Research Services, joined the NCSC in October 2003. At the NCSC, he directs the Court Statistics Project, which collects and analyzes state court data to develop a national perspective on the work of the state courts. The Court Statistics Project has developed the State Court Guide to Statistical Reporting, which provides a framework for comparisons of state court data. He also works on the CourTools project, working to develop and assist states and courts to implement performance measures. His third area of concentration is workload assessment projects for judges, clerks, staff, and public defenders. Previously, he served as Assistant Division Director at the California Administrative Office of the Courts, where he was responsible for statewide policy research and judicial branch strategic planning. Mr. Schauffler holds a bachelor’s degree from the School of Criminology , University of California at Berkeley, and an M.A. in sociology from Johns Hopkins University . Prior to his work at the California AOC, he was a private investigator in complex civil litigation cases throughout the western US. For a complete resume, click here.

Tracy Sohoni (formerly Tracy W. Peters) • tsohoni@ncsc.org

Tracy Sohoni is a Court Research Analyst at the National Center for State Courts (NCSC). Some of her recent project work includes the Civil Justice Survey of State Courts 2005, the Philadelphia Community Court Evaluation, an evaluation of the processing of civil and criminal domestic violence cases in Cumberland County, NC, a national assessment of court services to limited English proficient battered women, an evaluation of court-based intervention programs for juvenile domestic and family violence, and a survey of general civil processing in 46 populous appellate courts. Ms. Sohoni is also involved with various state workload assessment projects for judicial officers, court staff and public defenders.

Ms. Sohoni received a MA in Sociology from the University of Washington, Seattle in 2001, and has taught Criminology, Crime and Justice in the US, and Social Problems in the sociology department at the College of William and Mary. For a complete resume, click here

Shauna Strickland • sstrickland@ncsc.org

Shauna M. Strickland is a Senior Court Research Analyst at the National Center for State Courts.  She works on the Court Statistics Project (CSP) as the manager for all data collection efforts and contributes to the CSP’s annual publications: Examining the Work of State Courts and State Court Caseload Statistics.  She previously worked on the State Court Guide to Statistical Reporting, the 2001 Civil Justice Survey of State Courts (CJS), the 2001 CJS Supplemental Study of Civil Appeals, the 2005 CJS, and she led all data collections efforts for State Court Organization, 2004.  She participated in the ABA-sponsored “Vanishing Trials” symposium, co-authored “Examining Trial Trends in State Courts: 1976-2002” (published in the Journal of Empirical Legal Studies, vol.1 no. 3, November 2004) and authored “Beyond the Vanishing Trial: A Look at the Composition of State Court Dispositions” (published in Future Trends in State Courts 2005).  Current project work includes Judicial Decision-Making in Mental Health Courts and the Virginia Indigent Defense Commission's Public Defender Workload Study. Ms. Strickland holds a MPA from Old Dominion University (VA) and has worked at the NCSC since 2002, receiving the Jeanne A. Ito Staff Award in 2006.  For a complete resume, click here.

Brenda Uekert • buekert@ncsc.org

Brenda K. Uekert is a Senior Research Associate at the National Center for State Courts.  Dr. Uekert specializes in research pertaining to domestic violence and family issues.  Current research projects include a study of recidivism of juveniles assigned to a court-based intervention program for domestic or family violence, and a national assessment of the courts’ capacity to provide protection orders to those with limited English proficiency.  Among her recent publications is an evaluation of Pennsylvania’s Protection from Abuse Database.  She currently chairs the Family Violence Forum and the Elder Abuse and the Courts Working Group.  Dr. Uekert has an undergraduate degree from the University of Wisconsin at Eau Claire and a M.A. and Ph.D. from Syracuse University.  For a complete resume, click here.

Nicole L. Waters • nwaters@ncsc.org

Nicole L. Waters, a Senior Court Research Associate, has been with the Research Division of the National Center for State Courts, Williamsburg, VA since 2000.  Current work at the Center includes examining the policy and social implications of jury procedures, investigating the reciprocal interplay between science and the law, and evaluating issues of civil justice at both the trial court and appellate court levels.  Dr. Waters has co-sponsored educational seminars for judges including Science for Judges directed by Brooklyn Law School and the DNA Fingerprinting & Civil Liberties symposium of the American Society of Law, Medicine and Ethics.  She has taught educational courses designed for court administrators, court managers, and judges and serves on the advisory board of NCSC’s educational division, the Institute for Court Management.  Dr. Waters has taught Criminology, as well as Research Methodology at The College of William and Mary and courses in Legal Studies at the University of Delaware .  She has authored numerous articles, including Standing Guard at the Jury's Gate: Daubert's Impact on the State Courts; The Current Debate on Juror Questions: “To Ask or Not to Ask, That is the Question;” and co-authoring Are Hung Juries a Problem?; The Timing of Opinion Formation by Jurors in Civil Cases: An Empirical Examination; and What’s Half a Lung Worth?  Civil Jurors’ Accounts of their Award Decision-Making.  

She has been the recipient of several grants, including two on the effects of U.S. Supreme Court decisions on admissibility of expert witness testimony, and a grant from the Bureau of Justice Statistics to conduct the 2005 Civil Justice Survey of State Courts which will compile data on civil trials in 160 courts across the nation.  At the University of Delaware, she received a Ph.D. in sociology with a specialization in law and society and research methodology/statistics.  She received a M.A. in general experimental psychology from California State University in Fresno and her B.A. in psychology and statistics from St. Olaf College in Northfield, MN.   For a complete resume, click here.

Last updated 06/03/08