Prosecutorial Management Skills

By Ronald H. Clark, Senior Training Counsel, National College of District Attorneys

"Coaching Skills for Leaders” was the subject, and National College faculty member Larry Center guided the discussion with an audience of elected prosecutors and top-level assistants during this year’s Executive Program in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina. Mr. Center’s presentation explored vital management skills, such as how to build trust, delegation techniques, methods for developing a teamwork approach in the office and the characteristics of the ideal leader. He even offered the course participants a self-scoring test to determine coaching ability.

Larry Center is the director of Continuing Legal Education at Georgetown University Law Center and a frequent instructor at seminars around the country on management, leadership and continuing legal education. Mr. Center is the newest member of the college faculty at the Executive Program where he joined the veteran faculty members for this prosecutor management leadership course.

The National College of District Attorneys offers three courses on management of the prosecutor’s office. First, the Executive Program, a college premier course, is exclusively designed for the elected prosecutor and first assistants with policy-making authority, and it concentrates on their leadership roles within the office and the criminal justice system. The Executive Program is offered once a year, and in 2002, it will be conducted in Monterey, California September 28 - October 2, 2002.

Second, Office Administration is also a management course, but it is open to administrative personnel as well as attorneys who have management responsibilities in a prosecutor’s office. Next year’s course will be held April 14-18, 2002 in Arlington, Virginia. Third, the Experienced Prosecutor course is aimed at experienced prosecutors who have not only supervisory responsibilities but also some trial responsibilities. The next Experienced Prosecutor course will be in Santa Fe, New Mexico, April 7-11, 2002.

Management of a prosecutor’s office is a heavy responsibility, and historically it was normal for prosecutors to take on managerial duties with a JD, not an MBA or any other management education. Training provided by Larry Center and the skilled NCDA faculty at the Executive, Office Administration and Experienced Prosecutor courses prepare prosecutors for their prosecutorial management and leadership roles.