FROM THE BENCHES AND TRENCHES COURT REFORM: THE NORTH DAKOTA EXPERIENCE.

The North Dakota Court System is an often overlooked example of a unified court system. Yet, as an early adopter of the ABA Standards Relating to Court Organization, it provides a good case study of how the perceived benefits and drawbacks of unification have unfolded in practice. This article traces the North Dakota Court System's path to unification through consolidation of trial courts, centralized administrative authority, centralized rulemaking, centralized budgeting, and state financing. The ability to achieve unification on all five levels can be attributed to geography, legal culture of the state, and the continuity in leadership of the court. Although many of the anticipated benefits of unification have been achieved, the reform has raised new challenges for the court system. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]