Where better to begin a round-up than Texas? IN
El Paso Appellate Backlog Prompts Case Transfers, Law360 reports that the Texas Supreme Court--for the first time ever--transferred over 80 fully briefed cases away from the 8th Court of Appeals in El Paso to other courts to address a backlog that has had some appeals (including criminal appeals) pending for over two years. Apparently, the El Paso appellate court had been sent cases from other appellate courts under docket equalization procedures. But that court only had three judges, and then faced problems when one judge had health problems and there was turnover after elections. Court stats show that over the past decade appeals in Texas were resolved in an average of 8 months after filing, but the backlogged 8th was taking an average of 12.7 months to decide appeals after filing and 5.3 months to decide after submission. Obviously none of this involves SoCal Appellate News, but it's always interesting to see how other appellate courts function by way of comparison. Nor is it unusual for SoCal appellate cases to get transferred from district to district. For instance, many appeals from 4/2 have been sent to 4/1 and 4/3 over the past few years.
Law360 also reports,
Judge's Killer Must Die, 11th Circuit Rules, about the 1989 mail-bomb killing of 11th Circuit Judge Robert Vance.
Today's DJ profiles Judge Mark Epstein (in
Learning the Ropes), who was a certified appellate specialist at Munger, after clerking for federal judges, including Justice Brennan. And yes, he's the son of
2/4's famous PJ. It's a given that with such appellate bona fides there's a serious nerd-component at play, and he admits in his profile that he enjoys Starcraft II.
Today's MetNews has
Bendix, Moor Confirmed as Justices of Second District Court of Appeal; Greenwood Approved as Sixth District Presiding Justice. The article points out that "Bendix and Moor received their law degrees from Yale--which is also the governor's alma mater."
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