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October 01, 2024 National Conference of Federal Trial Judges

NCFTJ Chair's Column

Hon. Elizabeth Stong

Think about it.  Pretty much every federal case begins in a federal trial court.  That’s where the complaints are filed, the claims are asserted, the issues are defined, and the record is made.  Motions that define the plausible claims are made and decided, and later in the proceedings, the genuine disputes of material fact may be sorted out from the issues as to which there really isn’t any authentic dispute.  Settlements happen, disputes are resolved, sometimes with the court’s participation.  And where settlements don’t happen, the court tries the matter, oversees - or makes - the findings of fact, applies the law, and enters judgment.  Problems get solved. 

Federal trial courts, and federal trial judges, aren’t perfect – that’s for sure.  If we were, then there would be no need for appellate courts and judges!  In our multi-tiered judicial system, there is an entire infrastructure in place to correct the errors of the federal trial bench, and to clarify the law.  And that’s a good thing.  In a typical week as a United States Bankruptcy Judge, I enter dozens of orders.  Every one of those orders affects an individual, a family, a business, employees, neighborhoods, and communities – and creditors. 

As reported in Chief Justice John Roberts’s Year-End Report on the Federal Judiciary, in the federal district courts, the district and magistrate judges saw nearly 340,000 civil cases docketed in the most recent fiscal year – an increase of 24 percent from the prior year.  Notably, cases addressing a federal question – that is, an action under the Constitution, laws, or treaties of the United States in which the United States is not a party – amounted to more than 138,000 of those filings.  And more than 66,000 criminal defendant filings were made.  In the bankruptcy courts, new filings exceeded 433,000 cases.  And while many of these cases were brought by large corporations seeking to restructure their debt through the bankruptcy court, the vast majority – approximately 96 percent of the total – were filed by consumers seeking to save their home, car, or truck, to get out from under their debt, and to get the “fresh start” that is the promise of the bankruptcy system.

So this year, in recognition of the work that is done at the first level of the federal judiciary, the National Conference of Federal Trial Judges of the ABA’s Judicial Division celebrates the federal trial bench and the work that is done by some two thousand active, senior, and recalled federal trial judges.  We will celebrate the district and magistrate judges, the bankruptcy judges, and the tax court judges sitting across the country in large urban courthouses and small rural judicial outposts.  Here in New York City, our courthouses are well-known and two federal judicial districts, the Eastern and Southern Districts of New York, share the five New York City boroughs – but did you know that there is a federal district courthouse in Yosemite National Park, in the Eastern District of California?  And another in Fairbanks, Alaska?  We will explore federal court venues and the work that is done there, day in and day out, by the federal trial judiciary. 

We will also celebrate the countless pathways to the bench of the federal trial judiciary, and we will tell the judicial “origin stories” of our colleagues around the country, including in a new series of ABA podcasts called “BenchTalk:  Celebrating the Federal Trial Bench.”  In partnership with the Business Law Section, we will celebrate the individual pathways that many have traversed on their journey to the federal trial bench.  And we will strive to demystify the ways to become a federal trial judge, at least a little bit, so that every lawyer and law student that dreams of someday taking the judicial oath of office can look in the mirror and maybe, just maybe, see a future judge.  Our opening trio of BenchTalk participants are distinguished jurists and distinguished NCFTJ leaders as well, Hon. Richard Boulware II, District Judge for the District of Nevada, sitting in Las Vegas; Hon. Willie Epps, Jr., Chief Magistrate Judge for the Western District of Missouri, in Jefferson City; and Hon. Diana Song Quiroga, Magistrate Judge for the Southern District of Texas, sitting in Laredo.  Watch for the launch of this series in early 2025. 

So, please join us!  Help celebrate the federal trial bench, and every trial bench – because pretty much every case begins in a trial court.  And while you are at it, look in the mirror – do you see a future judge?  

Hon. Elizabeth Stong

2024-2025 Chair, National Conference of Federal Trial Judges

Hon. Elizabeth S. Stong is a United States Bankruptcy Judge for the Eastern District of New York and Chair of the Judicial Division’s National Conference of Federal Trial Judges. 

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