by Howard T. Markey

One of the many, and one of the most important, duties placed on the Chief Justice of the United States by statute is that which requires him to serve as Chairman of the Judicial Conference of the United States. The Honorable Warren E. Burger carried out that duty with efficiency and with utmost fairness during a period in which the Federal Judiciary was experiencing the most explosive growth in its history. During his seventeen years of dedicated service in the Chair, the Conference faced a doubling of the personnel of the Third Branch of government and a virtual trebling of the caseloads in its courts.

The Conference, as the policymaking body for the Federal Judiciary, is comprised of the Chief Judges of the thirteen Circuits and twelve District Judges elected by their peers from the twelve regional circuits, along with the Chief Justice as Chairman. The Conference meets twice a year, in the Spring and Fall. Its meetings normally encompass two days, during which the Conference receives and acts upon reports of its committee chairmen. Virtually every important matter! action that happens in the Third Branch flows to and from the conference and its committees, which may in this respect be seen to form a type of nerve center. In managing the growth of the Judicial Branch and in assigning roles to its constituent units, the Conference and its Chairman can take a bit of justifiable pride from the record. With a 235 percent increase in their workload and only a 93 percent increase in their judgeships, Circuit Courts increased their case terminations 275 percent. With a 163 percent increase in their caseloads, and only a 76 percent increase in their judgeships, District Courts increased their case terminations by 189 percent.

Presiding at every one of the thirty-four meetings of the Conference that occurred during his term, Chief Justice Burger insured that the Conference continued to function through its committee structure, which also experienced growth. At his first meeting in September 1969, the Conference had nine committees, two special committees, and four subcommittees. At his last meeting in September 1986, the conference had twelve committees, six subcommittees, four advisory committees, six special committees, three Ad Hoc committees, and an Executive Committee. Absent an emergency, all items for Conference consideration are first referred to and considered by an appropriate committee or committees. The committees prepare reports and submit them in time to reach each Member of the Conference thirty days before the Conference meeting. At the meeting, the Committee Chairmen present those reports which include recommendations for conference action. The Conference, by majority vote, then adopts, rejects or modifies those recommendations.

Conference committees are created by the Conference and persons are appointed to those committees by the Chairman. Though members of the Conference may and have served on committees, the vast majority of the committees are formed of nonmembers. The committees on Rules and the Ad Hoc Committee on American Inns of Court include lawyers and law professors. Circuit Judges, District Judges, Senior Circuit and Senior District Judges, Bankruptcy Judges, and Magistrates serve on the Standing, Special, Advisory, and Ad Hoc committees and subcommittees of the Conference. The Executive Committee, of course, is formed of members of the Conference.

Though many committee recommendations have provoked lively debate during the fourteen years I have served under Chief Justice Burger's leadership in the chair, I cannot recall a single instance in which any member of the Conference or a reporting committee chairman was denied an opportunity to speak. On the contrary, the Chairman's patience and respect for the work of the Conference committees, for the hard working committee chairmen, and for the Conference members and their role, insured that committee chairmen were not interrupted, and that Conference members were heard even after, on occasion, it might be sensed by some that a consensus had been reached.

The exemplary manner in which Chief Justice Burger conducted each of the Conference meetings during his term was noted in a resolution unanimously adopted by the Conference on September 18, 1986. After recognizing his outstanding devotion to his judicial duties and to his outstanding accomplishments in the field of judicial administration, the Conference resolution stated that "he has prepared and presided over thirty-four meetings of this Conference with efficiency and fairness to all?

Presiding at Conference meetings is but the more visible portion of the Chairman's role. Chief Justice Burger devoted many long hours to preparation for each meeting and gave his personal attention to the follow-up actions necessitated by Conference decisions. Preparatory review of committee reports, from the broad perspective provided by his office as Chief Justice, involved consultations with and briefings from staff persons, correlation of committee recommendations with earlier Conference decisions, preparation of the agenda, and similar pre-meeting steps. Follow-up actions often involved the need for encouragement and guidance from his high office.

Chief Justice Burger will long be remembered for his contribution to the creation of numerous institutions, such as the National Center for State Courts, the State-Federal Judicial Councils, the Supreme Court Historical Society, the National Center for Innovation in Corrections, the National Academy for Corrections, the Annual Conference of Representatives of the Three Branches, and the American Inns of Court. He will be equally remembered by those who served on the Conference for the creation of its Executive Committee and the Legislative Affairs office in the Administrative Office of the United States Courts, and for his institution of the "Breakfast with the Chief' tradition, in which he hosted at breakfast the Circuit Chief Judges on the first day and the District Judges on the second day of the Conference meetings.

On emergency matters requiring action between Conference meetings, the Chairman took care to obtain the advice and concurrence of the Executive Committee. The work involved in his oversight of the Legislative Affairs Office is indicated by the number of public laws recommended by the Conference and adopted by the Congress. Between his advent in 1969 and the creation of that office in 1977, twenty-one such laws were adopted. Between 1977 and September 1986, one hundred and seven public laws recommended by the Conference were adopted by the Congress.

When Chief Justice Burger met for the last time with the Conference, there was no member of the Conference he first chaired who remained a member. Many District Judges and Chief Circuit Judges served for varying times during his seventeen years as Chairman. Those still living will not forget his devotion to the Conference as an institution and his unfailing courtesy to all who had anything to do with its operation. Throughout his service as Chairman of the Judicial Conference of the United States, the Honorable Warren E. Burger has preserved intact the honor and stature of the Conference, and of its Chairmanship, for transmission to his worthy successor.