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Tuesday, April 3, 2012

OJCC Survey

Spring is in the air. Spring, when everyone's thoughts turn to, you guessed it, the Office of Judges of Compensation Claims (OJCC) Survey. Just kidding, we know that spring is a busy time for a vast assortment of family and professional commitments. It is a busy time of year, but the Survey is an important tool to assist the OJCC with maintaining and improving the quality of our service to our customers and to Florida.

The 2012 Survey is the fifth annual; it was initiated in 2008, and allows attorneys and adjusters to provide feedback on the Judges, Mediators and Central Clerks of the OJCC. The simple purpose of the survey is to improve relations between bench and bar. Attorneys should expect to receive their email sometime around April 15, 2012 (we thought we would let you finish your tax returns first, another "joy of Spring"). The invitation email will come from ojcc@privatesurvey.net.  Attorneys and adjusters may want to add this email to their "contacts" to assure their Survey invitation is not redirected to their SPAM folder.

The OJCC Survey email will include a link which, when clicked, will open the survey in an internet browser window. The email will be sent to members of the Workers' Compensation Section of The Florida Bar, and the registered users of e-JCC (the OJCC electronic filing program). The email invitation to the survey will be sent to the email address on file with The Florida Bar (for section members) or to the email address listed as "primary" in each users e-JCC profile. In anticipation of the Survey, please make sure that your email addresses are up to date with the Bar and e-JCC.

The Survey this year has a new look. A new vendor was selected this year, and significant time has been invested in preparing a user-friendly interface for your convenience. The OJCC is grateful to, and recognizes the time and efforts of, John Brooks, Jeff Jacobs, Judge John Lazzara (TLH), Lisa Mustain (DOAH) and Jake Schickel. Without their efforts, suggestions, testing and feedback, development of this new platform would have taken significantly more time and been far more difficult. The support of the DOAH, Judge Cohen, and Judicial Conference President Thomas Portuallo also bear acknowledgement and thanks!

The new platform will continue to ask demographic questions about the respondent/user. We are interested in the broad categories of who is taking the survey, in terms of the number of years each has practiced, and what region of the state in which each practices. Once this information is collected, the survey will allow the respondent/practitioner to select each individual Judge and Mediator they wish to rate. We ask that you only rate those Judges and Mediators before whom they have appeared in the preceding 12 months.

After defining the individuals you wish to rate, the survey will provide you with individual survey pages for each. Obviously, how long it takes an attorney or adjuster to complete the survey will depend on how many Judges and Mediators that person elects to rate. Your responses can be saved (there is a specific "save" button) so that you may take a break to get some work done or take a call and then return to the Survey. When finished, you can click "submit" and the survey will be complete. You may return to the survey to submit "saved" responses or to print your own responses at any time.

We hope that attorneys and adjusters will take advantage of this opportunity to provide feedback. Unfortunately, there have occasionally been inappropriate comments and feedback inserted by users. Appropriate feedback provides explanations of perceived process, personality or demeanor concerns, and suggestions for alleviating them. Appropriate feedback provides suggestions on how a Judge, Mediator, or District could improve operations or a specific process. Inappropriate feedback includes name-calling, insults, or slurs.

Attorneys and adjusters are encouraged to make positive, productive suggestions. Attorneys and adjusters are asked to state their disagreements (complaints) without being disagreeable (insults, slurs, etc.). Attorneys and adjusters are asked to rate only the Judges and Mediators before whom they have actually appeared in the preceding 12 months.  The OJCC appreciates your participation in the Survey and your willingness to let us know how we can do a better job for Florida.

If you have questions, comments, criticisms, or suggestions, do not hesitate to contact me david_langham@doah.state.fl.us.  Tell me how we can better serve your needs.