Justice of the Peace
Newsletter
March 2007
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In This
Issue: |
The JP
Association is developing a Code of Ethics to which all members would
be asked to subscribe. Why? As it stands now, the qualifications for
becoming a JP in every one of our members' states -- CT, MA, NH TX and VT
-- are minimal. Any registered voter who is mentally competent and has no
criminal record may become a JP if there are openings. And only Texas
(where Justices of the Peace are paid officers of the court) requires them
to stay up-to-date on the duties of their office with regular training.
Why not hold members of
www.jpUS.org to a higher standard? A Code of Ethics that all members
would agree to abide by would serve at least three purposes:
- it would provide guidelines to the individual JP to “do the right thing” primarily in situations where conflicts might arise
- it would assure the various publics that we deal with of the integrity of the JPs with whom they are working, and
- it would distinguish JPs who are members of jpUS from those who are not.
From a marketing standpoint, the last two points are significant. Taken together, they can tip a couple's choice of a JP in your favor. Since implementing a Code of Ethics is so important, we want your input. Look over our suggestions below. Then tell us what you think. Here are some questions to get you started:
- Do you agree that the JP Association would benefit by a code of ethics? Why or why not?
- Would you subscribe to the code's tenets? Why or why not?
- What would you omit from our draft?
- What would you add?
Proposed Code of Ethics
As a member of the Justice of the Peace Association of the U.S. (jpUS.org), I resolve:
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To base my decisions on the best interests of the couple.
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To always act in ways that reflect favorably upon the JP profession.
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To be honest with my clients and their families.
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To establish fees for my services that are reasonable and reflect my capabilities, effort, time, and involvement in the preparation and performance of the ceremony.
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To perform the ceremony to the best of my ability.
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To complete and submit all documentation on time and to the proper authority.
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To resolve differences with other wedding industry providers quickly and as amicably as possible.
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To execute the statutes of the state in which I am empowered to the best of my abilities.
Please share your ideas with us. I look forward to hearing from you. Saul
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Marketing JP Services: How High-effort and Low-effort Marketers Differ By Margaret B. Leicach, JP, Farmington CT The jpUS.org survey data we reviewed in the last issue suggests that only a small minority of Justices of the Peace pursue their profession actively, which we defined as using at least four marketing tools to generate bookings. These “high-effort marketers” (as we call them) perform a disproportionately large proportion of the ceremonies. In this issue we dig a bit deeper into who the active JPs are, how they approach their professional duties and how much they earn. Survey data suggests that the high-effort marketer is likely to live in Hartford, Fairfield or New Haven County, be under 50 or over 65, female (80%), in office between 1 and 4 years (70%), and neither a Republican or a Democrat (67%). All of the high-effort marketers offer both conventional marriages and civil unions and a third also take depositions. Only 60% of low-effort marketers offer civil unions and only 15% take depositions. High-effort marketers are twice as likely as low-effort marketers to provide a certificate or wear a robe and 2.5 times as likely to arrange for a certified copy of the license to be sent to the couple. Fifty percent of high-effort marketers will travel more than an hour to perform a ceremony compared to only 19% of low-effort marketers and 25% of the low-effort JPs will not travel more than a half-hour. High-effort marketers are twice as likely to offer unique ceremonies as low-effort marketers, who generally use a standard ceremony. More high-effort marketers offer each of the ‘extra’ services listed in the survey. For example, they are twice as likely to coordinate the ceremony and four times as likely to provide ritual items. Couples can contact all of the high-effort marketers by phone, email and web links. Nearly all low-effort marketers can be reached by phone, but only 60% by email and only 5% by web link. Only 4% of low-effort marketers sign a written contract with their couples compared to 50% of high-effort marketers. Contracts are completed by email by 83% of high-effort marketers and 17% of low-effort marketers. High-effort marketers, on average, meet with the couple twice while low-effort JPs do so only once. High-effort marketers are five times as likely to require a deposit and to collect the balance of their fee at the rehearsal or at least before the ceremony. High-effort marketers earn more, both because they perform more ceremonies and because they charge more. High-effort marketers are five times as likely to charge more than $300 for a ceremony and even more likely to charge more than $400. This makes sense when we consider that (a) high-effort marketers provide more services and extras (b) they travel longer distances to perform ceremonies and (c) most JPs factor travel into their fees. High-effort marketers also spend more on booking and performing ceremonies, on marketing, travel, robes, etc. Interestingly, only 29% of low-effort marketers ever charge less than $50 for a ceremony compared to 50% of high-effort marketers. This may reflect the fact that all high-effort marketers offer a discount to military couples (compared to 12% of low-effort marketers) and 67% of high-effort marketers consider their relationship to the couple (compared to 45% of low-effort marketers) in setting fees. Our next and final article on marketing will explore what the survey data suggests about the relationship between particular marketing activities and the number of ceremonies JPs perform and their fees. Lucky Sevens: A Good Day for a Wedding 
is considered a lucky day
to get married. Consequently wedding packages abound, in Las Vegas
and other popular venues and prices are higher.
Are you booked for 070707?
Tell us
about it. |
A Comment on the Survey Analysis At first it was surprising to learn from Margaret Leicach's excellent analysis of the jpUS survey that two-thirds of high-effort marketers are independents, chosen by Town Clerk lottery. Upon reflection, however, it made sense. We know that many JPs are appointed by their political party in recognition of their party service and while they may perform ceremonies, doing so is not a high priority for them. These JPs are certainly what Margaret terms "low effort marketers." While some JPs who are registered Democrats or Republicans may have sought their appointment because they wanted to perform civil ceremonies (in fact that's how I got to be a JP), it's a fair bet that most if not all independent JPs wanted to perform ceremonies. And they are the ones putting the most into getting clients. Saul Haffner Vermont, Connecticut and now New Jersey New Jersey became the third state to offer civil unions to same-sex couples on Feb. 18, following an October state Supreme Court order to extend all the rights of marriage to gay couples. NJ no longer has JPs. Instead, mayors, county clerks and judges perform civil ceremonies. The state Attorney General, Stuart Rabner, said that civil officiants who perform marriages cannot turn down requests for civil unions. While public officials are not required to perform either kind of ceremony, those who do perform marriages would be in violation of the state's anti- discrimination law if they refused to conduct civil unions and would be subject to legal action. Clergy members, however, may legally decline to perform civil unions if doing so would conflict with “sincerely held religious beliefs,” he said. Seeking JPs with Language Skills and more www.findaJP.com recently received the following inquiries. If you qualify, write to us and we'll send you contact info. "I am currently looking for a NH-based Justice of the Peace for my June 28 2008 wedding. My fiance is French, so I am particularly interested in someone who can speak French for a portion of the ceremony even if not fluent." A reminder that the ability to advertise your special qualifications comes with membership in www.jpUS.org. If you type French in the search box on findaJP.com's home page, you'll find lots of JPs from CT and MA who speak French. But none from NH or VT. We know you're out there, now join! We never did find a justice of the peace who speaks Turkish for a Massachusetts wedding, and now a second request has come in. Anyone? And CT JP Donna King has been asked to help find a JP who is in the military and can perform a ceremony in full uniform. Date: August 4. Place: East Haven, CT. Wedding Forecast 2007 For those of you who like numbers, here are some predictions for the number of weddings in 2007. The information was obtained from www.theweddingreport.com. CT: 16,539 NH: 10,737 MA: 36,261 TX: 191,072 VT: 5,971 In addition, typical wedding costs are expected to r  un between $25,000 and $30,000, as they did last year.
(Think about that when you establish your fees.)Unfortunately actual data is not yet available for 2006 so one can’t evaluate the accuracy of last year’s predictions. Also, last year theweddingreport website provided more data to individual users for free. This year, one has to become a subscriber (with significant charges) to get detailed information. |
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Are you listed on
findaJP.com? |
Saul Haffner saulhaffner@jpus.org