National Courts Monitor

Arbitration At Issue In Key California High Court Cases

Posted: April 17, 2015

The nation’s largest state is being watched closely as it tackles on of the largest class-action issues: arbitration. In recent years, large companies have been able to shield themselves from a variety of lawsuits by having customers and vendors agree to settle differences outside the courts, which are seen as being much more favorable to plaintiffs.

Now the Recorder offers an excellent overview of the issue nationally and notes that “… in California, plaintiffs lawyers find a measure of hope in the push and pull between the pro-arbitration U.S. Supreme Court and the California Supreme Court, which takes a more skeptical view. Earlier this month the state Supreme Court agreed to review in McGill v. Citibank whether consumers seeking injunctive relief under California law can be forced into arbitration. In May the justices will hear arguments in Sanchez v. Valencia Holding, and potentially lay out new grounds by which courts can reject unfair or one-sided arbitration agreements.”

WSJ Documents Delay, Crisis In Federal Civil Courts

by NCM Staff

Posted: April 14, 2015

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The Wall Street Journal is reporting that civil suits are piling up in the nation’s federal courts, leading to multiple-year delays in cases involving civil rights, personal injury and disputes over Social Security benefits. The Journal’s Joe Palazzolo notes that “… more than 330,000 such cases were pending as of last October—a record—up nearly 20% since 2004, according to the Administrative Office of the United States Courts. The number of cases awaiting resolution for three years or more exceeded 30,000 for the fifth time in the past decade.”

Palazzolo singles out the federal court for California’s Eastern District as having “a particularly deep backlog,” in part because the number of cases filed per judge, 974 last year, is almost twice the national average. More than 14% of civil cases in that district have been pending for three years or more.

A key quote from a California judge: “Over the years I’ve received several letters from people indicating, ‘Even if I win this case now, my business has failed because of the delay. How is this justice? [and] the simple answer, which I cannot give them, is this: It is not justice. We know it.”

It will surprise few that the challenge boils down to politics. Read the WSJ story here.

WSJ Story Notes Civil Gideon Trend

by NCM Staff

Updated: August 27, 2017

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The Wall Street Journal is taking notice of momentum for a “civil Gideon” approach to lawsuits involving life-changing decisions, like foreclosure or family custody. The WSJ reports that the newly approved state budget “… allocated $85 million for indigent civil legal services at the request of the state judiciary, an increase of $15 million from the previous fiscal year.”

And in New York City, Mayor Bill de Blasio recommended in his preliminary budget proposal spending $36 million on free legal services in housing court, which would bring the city’s total spending on civil legal services up to about $50 million.

By way of background, the deep-dive WSJ story noted that the trend has a history of success and “… in 2009, California passed the Sargent Shriver Civil Counsel Act, which created several pilot programs, supported by court fees, free legal counsel in civil cases. In its third year, the program has succeeded despite a modest $8 million annual budget, its coordinators say. More than 15,000 people have been served so far, most in eviction cases.

“One of the big takeaways is that attorneys help settle cases,” said Bonnie Hough, managing attorney for California’s Judicial Council. Read the story here: New York Officials Push Right to Counsel in Civil Cases

U.S. Admin Office Names ‘Most Productive’ Fed Court

by NCM Staff

Posted: April 7, 2015

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An interesting report out of the Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts, the “front office of the federal judiciary,” has named which national trial courts cut through their caseload the most efficiently, naming the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida as top dog. The Wall Street Journal Law Blog notes that “the Miami-based court was No. 1 in trial hours, No. 2 in hours on the bench, No. 15 in civil trials and No. 5 in criminal trials.”

The report said that the average judge, nationally, spent 364 hours on the bench and 182.7 hours in trial, and conducted four civil trials and 3.5 criminal trials in 2014. Also of interest, California’s Eastern District was second most productive, but the judges there have been screaming for more resources and waits have reached into years.

The WSJ report included this from the Eastern District: “You are working as hard as you possibly can, and no one seems to recognize the stress it puts us under,” said Chief Judge Morrison C. England Jr. “I may set it for trial in 2016, or 2017, or 2018, but it’s going to get bumped. That’s what happens. It’s frustrating and it’s demoralizing. I can’t get cases out fast enough.” Rationing justice, indeed. Read the Law Blog here.

Buzz Over NY ‘Silver Case’ Political Scandal

by NCM Staff

Updated: April 2, 2015

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The asbestos litigation industry is buzzing over how the arrest of a major New York politician might – or might not – create a storyline for other high-volume “magnet” communities, says Courts Monitor Publisher Sara Warner in a new Huffington Post column. Her report includes observations from a recent Beverly Hills industry conference on “cutting edge” issues.

Check it out here: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/sara-warner/asbestos-litigation-indus_b_6979432.html