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Local judicial assistant awarded employee of year

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LAKE COUNTY — Lake County judicial assistant LeeAnn Erickson was recently awarded Judicial Branch Employee of the Year for the State of Montana, in part for her professionalism, customer service and leadership when 20th Judicial District Judge C.B. McNeil and his assistant both retired.

For months, with Judge Deborah Kim Christopher covering district court cases for both Department 1 and 2 in Lake and Sanders County, Erickson, her assistant, went above and beyond her scope of duties, according to Christopher. 

Erickson shouldered coordination, administration and secretarial/paralegal responsibility for all of the cases in the 20th Judicial District for both Lake and Sanders counties. She also began taking all of the calls for both departments for both counties, scheduling trial dates, interfacing with attorneys and the public while managing budgets and timecards for both departments.

“With all of this on her shoulders, she had a smile, an answer, a suggestion or a direction for all. During all of this, the public was served and many, if not all, did not even realize there was such a large change,” Christopher wrote. “The most amazing thing … is I am unaware of a single complaint for either department. She never lost her cool, competent air and most importantly, the people of the 20th Judicial District were served. I have always insisted the people who come through our door are treated with respect and courtesy. Regardless of the person, including criminal defendants and highly upset litigants. LeeAnn makes that look easy.”

Before he retired, Judge C.B. McNeil wrote a letter endorsing Erickson for Judicial Branch Employee of the Year, agreeing with Christopher on Erickson’s professionalism dealing with the public.

“Frequently those entering were loud, belligerent and mad at somebody. LeeAnn treated all with respect, defused the volatile situation and all were pointed in the right direction and left with a greater respect for the Judicial Branch,” McNeil wrote. 

When James Manley was appointed to fill McNeil’s seat in November 2013, he didn’t have draft documents on his computer, so LeeAnn interfaced all the technology from Department 2 for Department 1 and provided Judge Manley paralegal support. She also assisted his court reporter. Once Chantel Wold was hired as Manley’s judicial assistant, LeeAnn was the only person who could handle many of the day-to-day questions and concerns, including training for both Chantel and Judge Manley. 

“LeeAnn trained my judicial assistant and me with great poise … Due to her professionalism and cooperative nature, LeeAnn has the respect and admiration of all of us,” Manley wrote in his letter of recommendation.

During this time, not only did LeeAnn deal with physical reconstruction to her office, but also dealt with three significant cases that generated an “incredible amount of files,” according to Christopher. Two civil cases were so large they provided full time work for an experienced judge and a highly trained attorney.

LeeAnn worked with Douglas G. Harkin, a retired district judge, who was asked to return to service to assist as a Special Master in the highly-visible Hyundai-disputed insurance case, which was tried in May 2014 with $248,000,000 awarded by the jury. At the time, it was the fifth highest verdict awarded in the USA.

“It did not take long for me to realize the complexity of the litigation,” Harkin wrote in his recommendation. “With damages well into the millions of dollars and over thirty insurance and construction companies who were each represented by at least one or more law firms, I quickly found an incredibly valuable resource to help me bring order to the turmoil — LeeAnn Erickson. LeeAnn did an excellent job of keeping me informed about the established procedure in Lake County and best of all, did so in a way that made me think I was the one who knew it all from the start.”

Harkin said when he typed “LeeAnn” into his Gmail search, it came back with more than 100 messages, each with at least three exchanges in the message string. 

“I asked her for a lot of help,” Harkin wrote. “What is really interesting is the huge number of message strings that end with me saying something to the effect of ‘ ... that is exactly what I wanted. Thanks.’”

The award was presented to Erickson by the Montana Supreme Court, with all the Supreme Court judges in attendance, on Oct. 21.

“As a public servant, it is incredibly important the people of Western Montana have an opportunity to see the amazing work that goes on quietly behind the scenes of the Court system,” Christopher said. “There are reasons we all live in Montana. The quality of people who live and work here with half their salary in the scenery is certainly one of them.”

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