Chief Judge Holderman offered his final State of the Court speech last month.  Judge Castillo takes over as Chief Judge July 1, 2013.  Here are the highlights from the address:

• “Filings are up and funding is down.”  While the state of the court is good, prposped further budget cuts and reduced funding may force reduced services in the future.
• For the fifth year in a row, overall civil filings were up .
• Jury trials dropped, going from 177 in 2011 to 168 in 2012.
• The combined jury trials for 2011 and 2012, however, are the largest number of trials in any two year period as far back as court records go.
• Patent filings increased from 239 in 2011 to 247 in 2012..  This continued a trend of increased patent filings in every year since the Northern District instiuted its Local Patent Rules in 2009.
• The Northern District remains in the top 10% of courts in terms of median time to disposition — 6.5 months for civil cases.
• The Northern District avoided the expected furloughs by not filling staff vacancies.  The Clerk’s office is down to two-thirds of its allocated staff.  Probation Department personnel may face three day furloughs because of fudning issues in that unit.
• Three new Article III judge joined the Court — Judges Durkin, Lee and Tharp.
• The Eastern Division added two magistrates — Magistrate Judges Rowland and Martin.
• The Western Division added Magistrate Judge Johnston.
• The Northern District has four judicial vacancies.