Faster and as Satisfying: An Evaluation of Alaska's Early Resolution Triage Program

• Date: 01 October 2019
• Published date: 01 October 2019
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.1111/fcre.12441
• Author: Stacey Marz

SPECIAL ISSUE ARTICLE

FASTER AND AS SATISFYING: AN EVALUATION OF ALASKA’S EARLY

RESOLUTION TRIAGE PROGRAM

Stacey Marz

The Alaska Court Early Resolution Program (ERP) addresses many issues –self-representation in divorce and custody cases,

triaging to determine the appropriate resolution approach, the importance of early intervention and the desire to use a simpli-

fied process and a problem-solving approach. This article reports on an evaluation of the Anchorage ERP. It found different

outcomes for ERP cases that settled than comparable cases that proceeded on the regular trial process track with respect to

the following outcomes:

time to disposition,

number of staff processing steps and associated completion time, and

number of motions to modify filed within two years of the disposition.

Key Points for the Family Court Community:

Courts can resolve 80% of their contested divorce and custody cases between self-represented parties in just one

hearing with a special calendar that employs a problem-solving approach, triage, a simplified process, and early

intervention.

Courts should use problem-solving approaches instead of the traditional adversarial model to resolve divorce and cus-

tody cases.

Courts can facilitate problem-solving by using unbundled volunteer attorneys, mediators and settlement judges to

help parties resolve cases.

Courts should triage cases into the appropriate resolution approach.

Case screening can occur effectively using information from the pleadings and filed documents along with informa-

tion about each party’s other court cases.

Early intervention in the case process is important to allow the parties to resolve and move on as soonas possible.

There are significant efficiencies for the court by mass calendaring many cases for the same hearing time.

Keywords: Custody; Differentiated Case Management; Divorce;Early Resolution Program; Problem Solving;

Self-Represented; Simplification; and Triage.

Many courts are grappling with how to manage divorce and custody cases involving self-

represented litigants efficiently and effectively. Some are exploring how to triage each case to deter-

mine the appropriate resolution approach. Some are implementing processes in which the litigants

avoid contentious litigation and resolve the issues as quickly as possible. The Alaska Court System

created the Early Resolution Program (ERP) to improve outcomes for families. The program iden-

tifies and triages newly filed contested divorce and custody cases involving two self-represented liti-

gants, applying a non-adversarial process shortly after the case is filed. The author evaluated the

Anchorage ERP and compared three years of ERP cases that settled to a control group composed

of similarly situated cases that proceeded on the regular trial track before ERP began.

This article provides a look at the possible pathways a hypothetical family’s case could take—

ERP or the typical trial track—to understand the types of issues that need to be resolved and how

the processes differ. It explains the prevalence of self-representation in divorce and custody cases in

Anchorage, which is similar to much of what is seen in courts across the country. Providing the

Corresponding: smarz@akcourts.us

FAMILY COURT REVIEW, Vol. 57 No. 4, October 2019 478–490

© 2019 Association of Family and Conciliation Courts