Congress is planning to give some relief to the federal judiciary after last year's budget cuts.
A bipartisan appropriations bill released Monday night would provide the federal courts an increase of $316 million in discretionary spending—or 5 percent above current funding—for the 2014 fiscal year, according to a summary of the 1,582-page bill from the Senate Appropriations Committee.
That would almost erase the $350 million in budget cuts to the judiciary in March as part of sequestration,...
A project providing free online access to federal court opinions has expanded to include 64 courts. The federal Judiciary and the Government Printing Office partner through the GPO’s Federal Digital System, FDsys, to provide public access to more than 750,000 opinions, many dating back to 2004.
The Judicial Conference approved national implementation of the project in September 2012, expanding participation from the original 29 courts. FDsys currently contains opinions from 8 appellate courts,...
Over the past 200 years, litigation in federal courts has continually changed. The greatest change has taken place in the past 25 or 30 years. During this period, we have seen the almost total disappearance of civil trials in federal court. Trials have been largely supplanted by motions practice and settlement. But lawyers have not responded to this change and still conduct pretrial as if their cases are going to trial. I think that is a mistake, and in this article I offer suggestions as to what...
In a new case that reminds federal judges everywhere to sing “I’ve got the power!” like C&C Music Factory, the Fifth Circuit reiterates that federal courts can stay related state court actions if necessary to “protect or effectuate” an order compelling arbitration. American Family Life Assurance Co. of Columbus v. Biles, __ F.3d __, 2013 WL 1809766 (5th Cir. April 30, 2013).
The underlying facts of the case highlight a tragically dysfunctional family. An adult homosexual man named...