Exercise 1: Work
Question 4.
Gut check: Without researching, what percentage of workers in the United States are paid at hourly rates?
Some courts prioritize cases where a party is represented, in part out of consideration for the fact that those litigants are often paying their private attorneys an hourly rate. The same consideration is not always given to court users who may have to wait long periods to have their case heard, losing the hours they too could be “billing” at work.
Tactics like allowing self-scheduling and using block scheduling (where a certain number of cases are set every half hour or hour) can reduce the time-cost burden for court users when appearing in person. Remote hearings can reduce this burden even more by allowing users to limit additional travel to the court. Offering alternative court hours allows for attendance outside of typical work hours, allowing court users to appear on weeknights, early morning, or weekends.