Mar. 22, 2014

Bench officers weigh in at State of Circuit event

The Federal Bar Association of Los Angeles hosted the annual State of the Circuit luncheon March 13 in downtown Los Angeles with speeches from various members of the federal bench. Ninth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeal Judge Paul J. Watford spoke on behalf of the appellate court, noting that the circuit continues to be one of the busier jurisdictions in the country. U.S. District Chief Judge George H. King, who presides over the Central District, spoke about the relative financial health of the court in comparison to the sequestration-plagued budget of last year. Chief Magistrate Judge Suzanne H. Segal gave a rundown of magistrate judge vacancies that will be opening up in the near future and encouraged any attorneys interested to apply. Chief U.S. Bankruptcy Judge for the Central District Peter H. Carroll told the gathering that while filings in the court were down to less than half of what they were in the aftermath of the 2008 recession, the court expected their case load to tick back up by 2018 based on historical models. — Henry Meier