Robert C. (Neil) LaFountain is a Senior Court Research Analyst at the National Center for State Courts and in 2009 celebrated his 25^th anniversary with the organization. 

He has been primary staff on the Court Statistics Project (CSP) since 1992, as well as all four iterations of the Civil Justice Survey of State Courts (1992, 1996, 2001, and 2005). 

Mr. LaFountain has worked on judicial and staff needs assessment studies in Alabama, California, Florida, Maryland, Michigan, New Mexico, North Carolina, Minnesota, Tennessee, and Wisconsin .  He is the co-author of several recent publications including: the CSP annual report, Examining the Work of State Courts; CourTools; a Cornell Law Review article, Juries, Judges, and Punitive Damages: An Empirical Study ; the State Court Guide to Statistical Reporting ; Caseload Highlights featuring the Guide ; civil trial litigation , and the NACM Felony Network; and a Special Report for BJS, Tort Trials and Verdicts in Large Counties, 1996 .  

Mr. LaFountain was the 1998 recipient of the National Center ’s Jeanne A. Ito Award and one of the inaugural recipients of the Robert W. Tobin Achievement Award (2005).