Chief Judge Holderman recently gave the Northern District’s annual state of the court address. The address led with a moment of silence for the late Judge Hibbler. Pronouncing the state of the Court “good,” Holderman addressed existing vacancies on the bench:
- There were five vacancies on the bench but two are being filled by new Judges Lee and Tharp, confirmed in May.
- Magistrate Judges Nolan and Denlow are retiring, both effective October 1, 2012. The Court is reviewing applications to fill those upcoming vacancies.
The Court is also getting busier:
- Civil case filings increased 8.2% in 2011 to 9,652 cases.
- Civil jury trials increased 51% to 127 in 2011. From 2009 to 2011, civil jury trials increased 160%.
- The N.D. Illinois remains in the top 10% of districts in efficiency of resolving civil cases, with a median disposition time of 6.6 months.
The Court Clerk is investigating ways to make the Court’s website even more useful And the Court continues its participation in two pilot programs:
- Cameras in the Courtroom; and
- Patent Pilot Program.
Finally, the Court’s judges currently preside over more than 60 multi-district litigation cases.