L.A. Superior Court Plans to Cut More Than 300 Jobs

Los Angeles Superior Court administrators plan to eliminate more than 300 jobs to cut costs and help balance the state budget, according to memo made public Tuesday.

The court system has already cut $70 million in annual spending via layoffs in 2010, a hiring freeze and other savings. But now administrators must find another $48 million in reductions to manage its share of $350 million in cuts at the state level.

The spending cuts are expected to be permanent and represent a "new normal" for the courts, according to a March 5 memo from Presiding Judge Lee Smalley Edmon and Executive Officer and Clerk John Clarke.

About $30 million in savings will come from staffing cuts that would take effect June 30, the last day of the fiscal year.

"The impact of this round of reductions will be severe," the memo stated. "Over the past two years, our court has lost more than 500 staff to
layoff and attrition—10 percent of our workforce. We have lost 16 percent of
our workforce since the dot-com crash of 2002. As staffing dwindles while
caseloads and the complexity of our work continue to increase, any additional
staffing reductions now cut into the core work of the court: courtroom
staffing."

The memo anticipated that 50 courtrooms being reworked so that judges could hear cases and not need a judicial assistant or courtroom assistant.

About 50 judicial assistants, who work in criminal courts, and about 20 courtroom assistants, who work civil cases, would then be laid off. About 60 court reporters would be let go and about the same number would be shifted from full-time to part-time work.

About 100 non-courtroom jobs would be eliminated from the juvenile court system.

"These are extraordinary measures, never before seen in the Los Angeles Superior Court," the memo stated.

Another $300 million in cuts are included in the governor's proposed budget for fiscal 2012-13, though the Administrative Office of the Courts hopes that lawmakers will hold off on one-third of those cuts, legislate new fees, and use reserves and funds from other programs to fill that gap. If the governor's tax initiative fails to pass in November, $125 million more in cuts would be triggered.

The memo acknowledged that rumors thrive during difficult times and urged employees to talk with judicial leadership, managers and union representatives to stay informed.

Despite what they characterized as a crippling blow, Edmon and Clarke encouraged staffers to work together to reshape the court.

"Money is not destiny," the memo stated. "The ultimate impacts of this blow will be determined by our response to it."

— By Elizabeth Marcellino, City News Service