A General Rule

For a good portion of my career, I’ve worked with people who have businesses and other rules-driven operations within the confines of the Family Courts of the State of Hawaii. From a legal perspective, there are some quirks that make the family court system different from, say, a criminal court or a civil court. But, at the core, the family court follows many of the same elemental rules found in courts across the country.

The family court, like many other courts, has its own set of family court rules (basically processes). These are the rules that govern how a litigant brings a contested case before a judge. The rule of thumb is that a litigant cannot generally bring a contested case before a judge without first undertaking process as the court rules in Hawaii outline.

The Hawaii Family Court Rules

Family court rules are basically a process by which a litigant is informed how the court processes work. For example, the rules may outline that a litigant must notify the court of any changes to his or her contact information. Furthermore, if the case involves the custody of children, the family court may outline that a litigant must communicate such changes to the Hawaii Child Support Enforcement Agency. Likewise, a litigant may be required to report any change of mailing address to the Child Support Enforcement Agency in addition to the family court. Or, a litigant may be required to check in with a probation officer at certain intervals. It depends.

The Bottom Line:

The point is that the court processes can get intricate, and often require a consistent flow of communication between the litigants and the court personnel. The rules basically help ensure that everyone knows what he or she needs to do and when they need to do it.

A Diverse Legal Structure – To Reuse or Not To Reuse

But wait, this understanding of the Hawaii family court rules is not only limited to litigation in the state of Hawaii. Nor is it limited to family court processes. My point is that well-run legal systems have clear boundaries and processes for their different actors. In simple terms, that actors cannot simply act anyhow they want. For the family court system in Hawaii, the boundaries just happen to be in the form of rules that govern court processes. For example, under Family Court Rules, an actor cannot simply show up at a family court hearing and expect that the case will be heard by a judge. Instead, the litigant must follow steps outlined in the court rules in order to make sure that their case is adequately communicated to a judge. Likewise, if a litigant is aggrieved at the outcome of his or her case, then under the court rules, he or she must follow a process to seek relief (such as an appeal).

Similarly, many businesses, especially those that revolve around a community of actors, also have clear processes and requirements to access their services. For example, some websites that offer services require users to create an account before gaining access. For example, to access the WPDM Marketplace, a user needs to create an account. Further, administrators may set certain criteria for membership in particular communities, such as creating an account or passing a test. This is a way to ensure that all actors are “playing by the rules” and maintaining the quality of goods and services offered on their platforms.

The Importance of a Sound Structure on the Web

I think that there’s a reasonable parallel between the certainty found in well-drafted statutes that is likely to make a website successful. The reality is folks want to know that if they invest effort or money into a website, then that website will likely be there next month or next year. Or, if they know that the site is going to sell them something, then they know that the site will deliver upon receiving their payment. They don’t want to invest time trying to create something on the website only to discover that the service no longer exists.

In other words, clear “rules” or processes can contribute to the stability of a business.

The Bottom Line – Everything is a Process

If you think about it, the courts, the WPDM Marketplace ecosystem, and other successful websites are all processes. For example, the court has filings which are filled out and submitted to the court. On the WPDM Marketplace, a person, upon creation of an account, may submit a product listing. And just as a court needs to ensure that the filings and filings fees are properly recorded, the WPDM Marketplace must maintain records of its listings (which is handled by WPDM Marketplace initially). Sometimes a filing is deficient, other times a person gets it right. The bottom line, though, is that the processes are transparent. That transparency is ultimately what allows individuals to create legitimacy behind their actions.

If you can remember that the basic concept of a court system is really the outlining of processes that must be followed – albeit, with legal limitations – then you can appreciate the utility of having rules that helps everyone stay on course to an end goal. The rules just happen to be called “family court rules” or “Hawaii family court rules” in the example above.

More important, if you understand that the way courts are organized, then you can similarly appreciate the idea of having guidelines for how to conduct business – whether it is to buy a product or to simply interact with others. In the digital world, that is known as the Terms of Use Agreement. Just like our court processes, well-structured terms of use give the users that log onto your website a level of certainty as to how the website will operate. The truth is that there are plenty of sites that could benefit from a better set of rules but that is another article entirely.

The Bottom Line

Think about it this way: the reason why the Hawaii family court rules are so important or valuable is not because people memorize or appreciate the rules. Rather, the family court rules provide certainty for those who practice before the family courts. In a similar way, rules and processes for a website – whether they are the terms of use, privacy policy, or standards for use – gives users confidence that the website owners value the interactions that happen within the website. For the Hawaii Family Court, rules and processes help make sure that people who walk into the doors essentially know what to expect.

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