- Since the pandemic, the administrative presiding justices for each district (Justice McConnell is the APJ for the 4th) have met regularly to “discuss numbers,” including transfer of cases as needed depending on backlogs.
- In coordination with the APJs, the PJs are considering holding similar meetings.
- By 2023, all RTs statewide are required by statute to be electronic. Some divisions including 4/1 are already there.
On the federal side:
- With fewer vacancies, the Ninth Circuit’s reliance on visiting judges may decrease. There is concern, however, that the drop in appellate filings has been only temporary due to the pandemic. All senior judges are on deck and critical to the court’s work.
- The average time from notice of appeal to opinion is 13 months, but this is an overall number that may not typify timeframes for particular areas of practice.
- How hard is en banc? Last year, nearly 900 petitions were filed. There were only 25 en banc calls and only 9 petitions granted.
- The court’s pro bono program locates counsel for 180-200 appeals per year, most commonly civil rights and immigration.
- The court is working on technology to link briefs to the ER, but is not there yet.
Future SDCBA APS meetings are April 27 and May 25.
Also of note, Justice Liu has been busy with speaking engagements:
- The DJ notes Justice Liu urges Asian Americans to seek clerkships -- Speaking to the Southern California Chinese Lawyers Association, Liu said, "We are at a point where the mentorships are very possible so a resource you have is 60 or 70,000 other Asian American lawyers like yourself. Take advantage of that."
- At The Lectern has Justice Liu speaks about bias at Penn
Posts
