My Publications
William E. Davis, III’s publications reflect a career devoted to judicial reform, access to justice, dispute resolution, transparency, and international development. His writings draw on decades of experience working with courts, justice systems, and communities in the United States and around the world.
The publications below offer a look at that work—from court reform in Kentucky to rule-of-law initiatives, international dispute resolution, and the practical challenges of strengthening justice systems. Select a title to learn more and, where available, view the full document.
Judicial Administration - Rule of Law
Administración del proceso de introducción de reformas en los tribunales
Publicado: Reformas procesales
Las polémicas de independencia judicial, los proyectos de leyes, los procedimientos legales y la política son los conceptos que reflejan la estructura en que funcionan los sistemas legales. Esta estructura está moldeada por los valores culturales que han tomado forma en la legislación y las instituciones que han sido creadas para administrar estas legislaciones.
La Corporacion de Promocion Universitaria (CPU), Santiago, Chile, 1993
Court Reform in Kentucky
Published: Court Reform
Court reform has been the largest change in Kentucky’s governmental history. The abolition of all lay judges and the introduction of state funding of all court operations have been accomplished in three years. Thus, much as been done in a short time, yet much remains to be done. This written report can summarize the efforts, but in no way can it truly reflect the dedication and hard work of many hundreds of people.
Justice System Journal, 1979/1980
Gridlock!
Published: The Judges Journal
A primary cause of delay in California courts has been accommodation. By 1986 many of California’s courts had come to accept delay as inevitable. The common assumption was that nothing could be done to change this condition short of adding several hundred judges. Judges and lawyers accepted the idea that control of the pace of litigation was the responsibility of the litigators. The system was so inflexible that the prescribed method of calendaring for all courts with 19 or more judges was a master calendar. Educational programs for judges did not include the managerial aspects of courts controlling their own affairs.
Judge's Journal, Vol 30, No. 4, Fall, 1991
Language Needs of Non-English-Speaking Persons in Relation to the Justice System
Published: Justice System Journal
This article focuses on how the justice system treats people with different languages. The relationship of language to culture and the interrelationship of the two will be explored. An attempt will be made to answer questions such as: What are the issues that face professionals in the justice system in this area? What are the risks of not adequately addressing these issues? Who must take the leadership role in the area?
Justice System Journal, Vol. 10/3, Winter, 1985
Lessons Learned from Palestinian Law Professor about Transfer of Learning
Published: Journal of Legal Education, AALS
The Rule of Law project for the West Bank and Gaza was an outgrowth of the Oslo Peace Accords. The Accords identified the need to strengthen the rule of law, a critical element in the peace process…The Rule of Law project has seven goals, two of which focused directly on legal education: to improve legal education by working with the four Palestinian law schools to provide a more capable faculty and to improve and broaden legal education and training.
Journal of Legal Education, Vol. 55, 2005
Constructing Justice in a Fragile Territory: Reflections on Building the Rule of Law in the West Bank/Gaza
Reflections on Building the Rule of Law in the West Bank/Gaza
In the following pages, we describe DPK’s experience under the auspices of USAID in the West Bank/Gaza region, supporting the development of the Palestinian legal system. We will focus in particular on the lessons that pertain to operating a legal development program in the context of a fragile territory.
williamedavis.org, 2009
An Oral History: William E. Davis
Published: Western Legal History
William E. “Bill” Davis served as circuit executive for the Ninth Circuit from 1981 to 1986. He brought a wealth of experience to the position, including work as staff attorney for the Administrative Office of the Courts in California, director of the Administrative Office of the Courts for Kentucky, and personnel officer of the Bahai’i World Center in Haifa, Israel.
Journal of the Ninth Judicial Circuit Historical Society, Vol. 15, Number 2, Summer/Fall, 2002
Alternate Dispute Resolution (ADR)
Access to Justice and Alternate Dispute Resolution
Access to Justice and Alternate Dispute Resolution
Helga Turku and William Davis, Symposium at School of Lay, University of Missouri at the Center for the Study of Dispute Resolution, Journal of Dispute Resolution, 2009
Access to Justice: Lessons from the Field
Access to Justice: Lessons from the Field
Rule of law and access to justice are important elements for the stability and development of transitional states. Governments gain significant legitimacy, both domestically and internationally, when rights are respected and promulgated.
This paper discusses access to justice. The first part will elaborate on the significance of access to justice. Second, this paper will identify access to justice, both theoretically and in practice. Finally, the study will examine lessons learned from access to justice projects throughout the developing world.
DPK Consulting, williamedavis.org, 2008
Conflicto minero: ¿inevitable?
Publicado: Punto de equilibrio
El importante aporte del sector minero al crecimiento económico del país está fuera de duda. Sin embargo, hay que tener presente que esta situación es en gran medida consecuencia de los precios internacionales, que hasta el momento han sido favorables, Además, no se debe olvídar que las industrias extractivas carecen de sostenibilidad y con mayor razón en el caso de la minería, ya que se trata de recursos no renovables.
Lima, Peru, 2007
Creating Commercial Dispute Resolution Centers in Palestinian Territories
Creating Commercial Dispute Resolution Centers in Palestinian Territories
This article aims to describe the process by which the first commercial center was formed in Palestine. It is hoped that through these descriptions one might glean a general picture of how such centers are formed, the increasing reach and universality of arbitration and mediation as providing a common language of resolution, and the contribution that such centers make to local property and development.
Journal of Ninth Judicial Circuit Historical Society, Vol. 15, No. 2, 2002
Diseño de sistemas para resolver conflictos: la experiencia con multipuertas en estados unidos
Publicado: Mediación: una transformación en la cultura
Tradicionalmente, cuando se trata de definir o desarrollar sistemas de resolución de conflictos dentro de organizaciones o instituciones, se empieza con el énfasis en el procedimiento, las reglas, la estructura; esto es, la infraestructura para resolver los conflictos.
Buenos Aires, Argentina, 1996
Implementing ADR Programs in Developing Justice Sectors
Published: Dispute Resolution Magazine
The problems facing justice systems in the developing world are day daunting—case backlogs are in the order of years or even decades on the dockets; formal court infrastructure are incompatible with transient, scattered, or rural populations; and illiteracy and extreme poverty are the norm, while access to basic services is the exception. In these environments, the use of ADR brings justice directly to the less-advantaged by providing them with the opportunity to voice their problems and demands and empowering them to find their own solutions. Through the correct implementation of well-designed ADR programs, improved efficiency and effectiveness of the justice system can be achieved.
Dispute Resolution Magazine, Vol. 16, No. 4, 2010
Multi- Stakeholder Dispute Resolution: Building Social Capital Through Access to Justice at the Community Level
Multi-Stakeholder Dispute Resolution: Building Social Capital Through Access to Justice at the Community Level, Shahla Maghzi-Ali, J.D.,Ph.D., William E Davis, Joanna Lee, Pepperdine Dispute Resolution Law Journal, Vol. 11:181, 2011
Transparency/
Anti-Corruption
Assessing the Effectiveness of Transparency Programs-Potential Strategies to Improve Performance
Assessing the Effectiveness of Transparency Programs-Potential Strategies to Improve Performance
William E Davis, 12th International Anti-Corruption Conference in Guatemala City, Guatemala, williamedavis.org, Nov. 2006
Building Social Capital through Consultative Decision Making
Building Social Capital through Consultative Decision Making: A Proposal for an Integrated Approach to Local Justice Sector Reform Programs
William E Davis and Shahla Maghzi-Ali, International Association for Conflict Management 17th Annual Conference, Pittsburg, PA, williamedavis.org, 2004
El Poder de la integridad
"El Poder de la integridad"
Desarrollo a través de valores
El Representante del Poder Judicial de la República Dominicana se pregunta ¿por qué no se han hecho más progresos en la reforma del sistema de justicia? y ¿por qué más personas no están tan comprometidas con el cambio como lo está él?
williamedavis.org, 2008
Learning about Application of Principle-Based Indicators of Development
Learning about Application of Principle-Based Indicators of Development: Evaluating Community Based Natural Resource Decision Making in Latin America
William E Davis and Shahla Maghzi-Ali, Association for Baha'i Studies-North America 27th Annual Conference: Religion and Community in the Time of Crisis, williamedavis.org, 2003
Additional
Effective Judicial Reform Strategies for Turbulent Times
Effective Judicial Reform Strategies for Turbulent Times
Judicial Systems in Transition: Reforms, Innovations and Justice Conference, 2025
Esperanza Foundation's Third Annual Symposium, June 2016
Esperanza Foundation's Third Annual Symposium, June 2016
Reflections on Improving Justice Systems
Reflections on Improving Justice Systems
Tetra Tech DPK Celebration of Its 20th Year Bill’s career reflects his commitment to the principle that a fair and efficient justice system is an essential aspect of a stable, just, and prosperous society – one in which people enjoy the benefits of freedom, security, and rising standards of living. Over the years, Bill has demonstrated a special ability to help justice system operators and stakeholders in the United States and abroad to improve the policy environment and the operational capacity for a reliable administration of justice that will fairly and efficiently resolve disputes, protect rights, and hold governments accountable to their citizens.
2014
20 Years in the Making
Principles and Practical Strategies for Justice Sector Reform
There is by now a wealth of literature that synthesizes rule of law development experience in different contexts and the evolution of rule of law theory and interventions. Longstanding and emerging rule of law and justice sector indices map progress on a range of generally accepted foundations for governance by the rule of law. A host of donor-funded publications—from strategic frameworks to detailed handbooks on specific areas of intervention—offer recommendations rooted in international standards and individual nations’ foreign policy imperatives. A handful of thoughtful books2 have generated rich discourse within the rule of law and justice sector development communities. Nevertheless, there is little written about rule of law reform from the practitioner’s point of view. With pressure on budgets at every level, our in-country team leaders, talented local staffs, and foreign government and civil society counterparts have few opportunities to share experiences in safe environments where they can learn from successes and failures or even just admit to not knowing what to do next.
This publication is designed to fill the gap. Through it, I hope to spark conversation about “what works” on the ground at a practical level.
2014
Rule of Law Venture Buoys Pair’s Global Adventures
Published: San Francisco Daily Journal
Bob Page rode into San Francisco on a motorcycle he bought in Panama. Bill Davis, leaving behind a small town in New Mexico, arrived in the family car. The two men first crossed paths as Peace Corps volunteer in South America in the late 1960s.
2008
La implementación de programas de RAC en sectores de justicia en desarrollo
Estudios de caso y lecciones aprendidas
La fuerte red de preogramas y actividades de resolución alternativa de conflictos (RAC) en Estados Unidos—que va desde el trabajo de agencias de base al Grupo de Trabajo de Resolución Alternativa de Conflictos Inter-Agencia al nivel federal- tiene un enorme impacto sobre la expansión del acceso a la justicia, la reducción de la carga de las Cortes, la introducción de más flexibilidad y creatividad en el proceso de la resolución de conflictos y la apertura de vías para resoluciones conciliatorias.
2005
Who’s Who
Who’s Who
1990, 1995, 1996, 2001, 2002
Expert Helps Palestine Erect Legal Structure
Published: Los Angeles Daily Journal
Bill Davis, who once led the state Administrative Office of the Courts, is taking his expertise on courts to Palestine, where he and his San Francisco-based consulting firm will help develop that nation's civil justice system from centuries of diverse and interwoven legal traditions.
2000
Baha'i gathering to talk peace in S.F.
Published: The Examiner
It's one thing to suggest that world peace is possible, but quite anther to say it is inevitable.
That's the message members of the Baha'i Faith are sharing with representatives of a peace group as they meet this weekend in San Francisco.
1986
Building Social Capital Through Informal Dispute Resolution Centers
Building Social Capital Through Informal Dispute Resolution Centers
Current efforts to build social-capital tend to neglect the critical need and prerequisite of building a common value system based upon the ethic of human-oneness. This paper argues that (1) if donor agencies wish to promote social capital, they should make this ethic integral to their programs; and (2) the creation of informal dispute resolution center (IDRC) within civil societies is an appropriate and highly promising strategy. “The moral of the story is that if we do not pay attention to social capital, we will destroy it, all the while patting ourselves patting themselves on the back for helping people out.”
