Overloaded Attorneys, Overloaded Courts: Enter Mediation

You aren’t the main character.

As attorneys file more cases, Judges must handle the increased volume. But judicial resources have not kept up. Judicial appointments have become politicized, with unfilled seats on the bench plus regular retirements, leaving sitting judges with even heavier dockets. More cases mean less attention per case. This isn’t criticism, it’s reality. Our judges do an incredible job with the resources they have. We need more judges, and they need to be paid more.

But until that happens, some sobering numbers:

The Ninth Circuit

The entire Ninth Circuit is authorized for 29 appellate judges and 112 district court judges. Today, there are four current and two future District Court vacancies. In 2023, there were 7,784 appeals and 55,933 new filings in the Ninth Circuit.

That’s more than 500 new filings per sitting district court judge.

California

In California state court, there are 7 supreme court justices, 106 justices in the Courts of Appeal, and approximately 2,175 trial-level judges, commissioners, referees, assigned judges, and temporary judges.

Caseload data for the California Supreme Court, Courts of Appeal, and superior courts for fiscal year 2022–23 is summarized below (from the 2024 Court Statistic Report):

Supreme Court

·       Issued 56 written opinions.

·       Filings: 5,490; dispositions: 5,764.

Courts of Appeal

·       20,097 contested matters (14,298 appeals; 5,799 original proceedings).

·       22,004 dispositions; 15,179 were appeals; 6,825 were original proceedings.

·       7,899 written opinions on appeals; 4,756 disposed without written opinions; 2,524 disposed without a record filed. 266 written opinions on original proceedings, 6,559 original proceedings disposed without written opinions.

·       9 percent of Court of Appeal majority opinions published statewide.

Superior Courts

In FY 2022–23, over 4.5 million cases were filed statewide in the superior courts:

·       Civil: 255,914 unlimited civil cases; 402,019 limited civil; 74,855 small claims.

·       Criminal: 183,151 felonies; 439,041 misdemeanors; 2,621,465 infractions.

·       Family and Juvenile: 111,894 marital; 209,363 other family law; 26,058 juvenile delinquency; 31,953 juvenile dependency.

·       Probate, Mental Health, Appeals, and Habeas: 60,286 probate; 96,112 mental health; 2,419 civil/criminal appeals; 4,569 habeas cases.

4.5 million filings in our Superior Courts. 255,914 unlimited civil cases. Let those numbers sink in. Do you think your case is the most important one on your judge’s docket?

When you walk into a judge’s courtroom, you are not the main character. If a judge knows the name of your case – let alone your name – that’s a testament to how hard our judges work.

And you had better know your case better than your judge. The facts, law, opposing counsel, parties - all of it. And a Jury? They’ve literally heard nothing about your case until you open your mouth.

But if you know your case better than the judge and jury, then why are you asking them to decide it?

You had better have a very good reason why your client is paying you to fight for an overworked trial judge’s attention – or worse, to ask 12 strangers to hear evidence for the first and only time over a few days, and to make factual determinations – when you’ve lived with the evidence for years.

Maybe, just maybe, mediation is a better way. A chance for attorneys, who know the case best, to help clients resolve disputes voluntarily.

Monday x Morello Mediation. None of this is legal advice. Your mileage may vary.