In 2015, a former colleague of mine wrote a blog about the importance of courthouses to the vibrancy of the surrounding areas in which they are located. As he stated, courthouses have long played an important role as a generator of economic activity for the downtowns of larger cities and smaller...

Since the onslaught of the pandemic, courts have struggled to understand its impact on modern courthouse planning. Because we are court planners, in the early period of the pandemic we were constantly asked about the emerging trends we were seeing in courthouse design as a result of the pandemic....

Our court planning work is split between serving local courts and federal courts. It has been interesting to be involved with the different jurisdictions and to witness how their respective courthouses function.

It is always an exciting day when the doors of a new courthouse open. There is a feeling of accomplishment in seeing the shared vision come together, and a sense of efficiency in moving into a building that meets the needs of all occupants. Most often, a new courthouse can be designed to house the...

Over a year and a half into the pandemic, we have seen a lot of change in courthouses and the operations of the components that comprise the judicial system. As we begin to emerge from the pandemic, I have been asking myself which of these changes are temporary and which are potentially here to...