Justice Implementation Field Notes - Table of Contents

A practitioner's guide to recurring patterns that shape success and failure in statewide and local court modernization and technology efforts.

Section I — Shared Understanding Comes First

1. The Justice Translator Role: Why Alignment Fails Before Technology Does - Why shared language is not shared understanding — and how courts protect themselves from misinterpretation.

2. Visualizing How Your Courts Actually Operate - Why workflows must be mapped by court type and structure, not as abstract “end-to-end” processes.

3. Orders are Decisions, Not Just Documents - Why courts need technology that understands judicial intent - and how work actually flows after an order is issued.

Section II — Readiness Is Organizational, Not Technical

3. Change Management Is About Reconciling Expectations - Why trust erodes when system capability, legal constraints, and staff expectations aren’t aligned early.

4. What “Done” Means in Real Court Operations - Why features can be complete and still unusable — and how courts should define readiness.

Section III — Knowing What’s Left to Do

5. Why Status Reports Don’t Tell You How Ready You Are - How progress reporting hides remaining risk — and what leaders should ask instead.

(Additional Field Notes Candidates — to be determined)

• Why Real Data Must Be Used During Configuration

• Why Full-Agency Simulations Are Not Optional

• How to Focus on the Risks That Actually Matter

• Why Usability and Performance Must Be Enforceable

• Governing AI Use in Courts Without Overpromising

These field notes describe recurring patterns observed across many justice implementations. They are written at the system and behavior level. They are not about any single program, vendor, consultant, or jurisdiction.