With the arrival of a new year, a new legislature and a new judicial administration, perhaps it’s time to take a new look at how our courts manage litigation. The judiciary has many talented judges and staff members, and yet, respect for the judiciary is reaching all-time lows in Connecticut and across the nation. It’s not incompetent personnel dragging us down. And it isn’t just conspiracy theorists who have trouble with the courts.

Conspiracy theories are also being accepted by people with real experiences with our courts. Those experiences have convinced them that the courts move glacially, bankrupt many of those who must pay lawyers out of pocket, and usually produce a settlement that leaves nobody satisfied and that was only accepted because the parties’ lawyers convinced them a trial would yield something even worse.