(Effective Date:1/18/2013)* ADMINISTRATIVE ORDER
AMENDING THE FAMILY DIFFERENTIATED CASE MANAGEMENT PLAN

Differentiated Case Management (DCM) emerged as a best practice for courts in the early 1990s concurrent with the development of time standards for the resolution of cases by organizations such as the American Bar Association (e.g. ABA Standards). DCM provides a structured and active approach to caseload management to drive the early and appropriate resolution of the 90 percent or more cases that can be resolved without a trial while preserving adjudication time, court and public resources for those cases that require trial. DCM is characterized by the early differentiation of cases entering the justice system in terms of the nature and extent of judicial/justice system resources they will require. Each case is assigned to the appropriate case track established within the court system that allows for the performance of pretrial tasks and allocates the appropriate level of judicial and other system resources, minimizing processing delays. Established mechanisms avoid multiple court appearances and assure the timely provision of resources for the expeditious processing and resolution of cases on each track.

Montgomery County was the first jurisdiction in Maryland to develop DCM, beginning with the criminal caseload nearly twenty years ago. Drawing on the expertise of justice system stakeholders, the Circuit Court led the development of protocols for tracking cases based on type and level of complexity, with meaningful DCM events designed to ensure that cases progressed toward resolution or trial held at key junctures and services, such as ADR, made available as integral component of caseload management. Family and juvenile DCM plans were developed to coincide with the creation of specialized family dockets in 1998 and with the transfer of the juvenile court to the Circuit Court in 2002. For over a decade, Montgomery County led the state in the timely disposition of cases and served as a model for other Maryland as well as out-of-state jurisdictions.

TYPES OF CASES

The majority of cases filed in Montgomery County Circuit Court are categorized as Criminal, Civil, Family, or Juvenile cases. Within each of these categories are a variety of types of cases:

• Criminal: These cases alleging violations of the law are filed by the State’s Attorney’s Office or the Attorney General’s Office.

  Criminal DCM Plan (), revised July 2010
  
  CONSENT ORDER in lieu of SCHEDULING CONFERENCE ()

• Civil: These cases are what we think of as “lawsuits” brought  by counsel for litigants and by self-represented litigants and include many different types of cases, including: contract disputes, personal injury (such as motor vehicle accidents and medical malpractice), professional malpractice, employment/ workplace disputes (such as discrimination, wrongful discharge, worker’s compensation, and union disputes), real estate actions (such as foreclosures, community association and neighborhood association disputes, construction disputes, and adverse possession claims), business/corporate, and technology disputes.
  
  Civil DCM Plan () , revised July 2010

• Family: These cases are also filed by private counsel on behalf of litigants and by self-represented individuals and include adoptions, divorce, annulments, child custody, child support, division of familial property, domestic violence petitions, name change requests, amendments to birth certificates and marriage licenses. 

  Family DCM Plan
  (Effective Date:1/18/2013)*Administrative Order
  Amending The Family Differentiated Case Management Plan

• Juvenile: These cases are filed by the State’s Attorney’s Office and the County Attorney’s Office and include delinquency, child in need of assistance and supervision and termination of parental rights.

  Juvenile DCM Plan

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(Revised:10-17-11) * SAMPLE FORECLOSURE SCREENING SHEETS (Maryland Rule 14-207.1)

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