Court Watch

Tort Trial Statistics in Federal Court

2006-06-10T22:24:00.000-10:00

The Justice Department collects statistics on tort trials in the federal courts . The statisitics for the 2002-2003 period are as follows. Tort trial cases terminated in U.S. district courts, 2002 - 2003 Total number tort cases concluded: 98,786 Jury and bench tort trials 1,647 Tort trials with plaintiff winners 704 Tort trials with

NSA Eavesdropping -- Legal Analysis Roundup

2005-12-22T10:20:00.000-10:00

By now, everyone has heard of President Bush's warrantless eavesdropping program. Court Watch has put together a short list of some influential analyses: Analyst Analysis Cole, David illegal Fein, Bruce illegal Fisher, Louis illegal Gonzales, Alberto legal Kerr, Orin illegal Maggs, Greg legal Schmidt, John legal EDITED 12/22/05:

"Tentative Rulings" and "Inclinations" of the Court

2005-12-20T22:01:00.000-10:00

Previously, Court Watch referenced the local rules of the Marin County Superior Court and endorsed the efficient practice of issuing tentative rulings a day or more before oral argument on pretrial motions. Such use of tentative rulings is widespread in California and, on balance, is very helpful and effective in focusing the subsequent oral argument. One federal district court judge in Hawai`i

The "Watch List" and the "No Fly List"

2005-12-08T10:01:00.000-10:00

Anyone who travels by airplane needs to be aware of two lists: the "Watch List" and the "No Fly List." Those on the "No Fly List" will become aware of it very soon. They will be left at the gate as their flight takes off. Those on the "Watch List" will have lesser--but recurring--problems boarding flights. Only when the extra effort needed simply to board an airplane is recognized as a recurring

"Testimonial" Hearsay Eliminated in Criminal Trials

2005-12-07T09:18:00.000-10:00

But exactly what is "testimonial" hearsay? Crawford v. Washington, 541 U.S. 36 (2004), written by Justice Scalia, held the use at trial of out-of-court statements made to police by a defendant's wife violated his Sixth Amendment right to confront witnesses against him, even though it was deemed reliable hearsay because it corroborated other testimony and was a declaration against penal interest

Civil Rights Case in District Court

2005-11-28T15:22:00.000-10:00

Today's Federal District Court daily calendar had a Rule 16 scheduling conference for a 42 USC 1983 Civil Rights Act case with several veteran litigators on both sides. There are a number of state agencies and officials named in the lawsuit: Case CV 05-00566JMS-LEK Time 09:00 Plaintiff R.G., an individual; C.P., an individual by and through her next friend, A.W. and J.D., an individual

British Plan to Abolish Juries Blocked, Not Dead

2005-11-28T07:25:00.000-10:00

Apparently, 800 years of favorable experience with the jury system has overridden the knee-jerk reaction of England's Lord Chancellor and Attorney General to several embarrassing losses in high-profile fraud cases. Last week, Court Watch reported England's top legal figure was pushing to outlaw juries in complex fraud cases by arguing that juries were basically too dumb to understand the

Helping a Client Engage in a Fraudulent Transfer May Incur Liability

2005-11-25T10:46:00.000-10:00

Editor's note: Nov. 27, 2005 -- A staff writer mistakenly believed he could alter this article after it had been edited and posted. The changes have been reversed. These excerpts from a Third Circuit Court of Appeals case, Morganrogh & Morganroth v. Norris, McLaughlin & Marcus, P.C., 331 F.3d 406 (3d Cir. (N.J.) 2002), pretty much speak for themselves: This appeal raises thorny questions

English Government Tries to Abolish Juries

2005-11-25T09:48:00.001-10:00

An unusual development is taking place in England, sometimes called the birth place of the jury trial since the right to a jury trial was granted 800 years ago by the Magna Carta. The Lord Chancellor and the Attorney General want to eliminate jury trials for serious fraud cases. Why? Because they think juries are too dumb. Others think it is because the government has mishandled a couple of big

Good Judges/Bad Judges

2005-11-22T10:48:00.000-10:00

The American Bar Association once published an article called Good Trial Judges in which it discussed the difference in the qualities of a good judge and a bad judge and noted that practicing before a "good judge is a real pleasure," and "practicing before a bad judge is misery." Litigation, V9No. 3 at 8 (1983). The article goes on to list what is considers the attributes of a "bad" judge. These

Evidence Rule 305 (Presumptions of Prima Facie Evidence )

2005-11-20T23:43:00.000-10:00

Rule 305 Prima facie evidence. A statute providing that a fact or a group of facts is prima facie evidence of another fact establishes a presumption within the meaning of this article unless the statute expressly provides that such prima facie evidence is conclusive Under Hawaii's Evidence Code, there are a number of stautory presumptions of prima facie evidence the Court will accept. These are

It Is Time for Tentative Rulings in Hawaii's Circuit Courts

2005-11-18T11:14:00.000-10:00

(Marin County, California) Located on the other side of the Golden Gate Bridge, in a Frank Lloyd Wright designed building, are the Marin County Superior Courts. In California a "Superior" court is the equivalent to Hawaii’s state "Circuit" court. Both are the courts of general jurisdiction. The Superior Court concentrates its efforts on felony cases and larger cases, as do our Circuit Courts.

New Use for Empty Court Rooms

2005-11-17T09:00:00.000-10:00

The revelation last week on KITV that the ten civil court rooms in Honolulu are sitting empty caused the news station to raise the following point: Facing so few jury trials could mean an opportunity for the judiciary to find new uses for courtrooms and judges. Since this lack of court room use arises, in part, because of the pressure by the judiciary for litigants to use

A Great New Tool for Trial Attorneys: Google Earth

2005-11-15T12:09:00.000-10:00

Any time a trial attorney needs a map of a location at issue, Google Earth is there to help. It is a superb visual tool. It puts actual sattilite photos at your disposal for free. Attorneys in land cases, traffic accidents, criminal cases, traffic tickets, or any other legal matter who could use an overhead shot of the outdoor scene can get it free from Google Earth. You can tilt the piture for

Civil Courts Resemble a "Ghosttown" According to Hawai'i TV Station

2005-11-13T18:22:00.000-10:00

This is an update to what was mentioned on November 11th. KITV news reported yesterday the following story: A KITV investigation revealed that judges handling lawsuits have half the caseload they did 10 years ago. It means many courtrooms sit unused for hours every day. The fourth floor of Circuit Court, where civil cases are heard, is pretty much a ghost town in the afternoon many days. Only

Hawai'i Jury Trials Dispose of Less than 1% of the Civil Cases

2005-11-11T12:07:00.000-10:00

The 2003-2004 Hawai'i Circuit Court statistics show less than 1% of the civil cases are completed by jury trial. Year 2003-2004 Civil Actions TypeCompletedJury TrialsPercentage Contract86930.003 PI Auto102850.005 PI Other85650.006 Condemnation3110.032 Dist. Court4510.022 Other Civil2253100.004 Civil Total5082250.005 Criminal25991190.046 Has this low percent of civil jury trials turned the

Voir Dire of the Jury--Battle Ground at the Beginning of the Case

2005-11-09T11:19:00.000-10:00

Judge Mark King Leban in Florida issued a memorandum containing GUIDELINES FOR VOIR DIRE EXAMINATION IN JURY TRIALS He seems to believe one of the big problems with voir dire is attorneys attempting to get a judgment during voir dire rather than determine whether the panel is fair and qualified: Problems in voir dire examination of prospective jurors arise in the posing of hypothetical

Don't Over Control During Cross-Exam -- It's Boring

2005-11-08T21:09:00.000-10:00

In his short essay The Ten Commandments of Cross-Examination, Timothy A. Pratt provides his entertaining and informative overview of cross examining witnesses during trial. Mr. Pratt cautions the trial attorney against over reliance on leading questions to control the witness: Often, it is best to have the answer come from the mouth of the witness. A lawyer asks these non-leading questions

A $5 Million Class Action Controversy? Go to Federal Court

2005-11-08T17:25:00.000-10:00

For all trial Attorneys who practice or even brush up against class action lawsuits, be prepared to be in federal court--most of the time. The Class Action Fairness Act of 2005 amends both Rule 23 of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure and 28 U.S.C. § 1332. The Act applies to all actions commenced after February 18, 2005. The American Law Institute claims the Act "dramatically changes class

Trial Lawyers Need to Support Due Process for Everyone

2005-11-08T12:14:00.000-10:00

Unless we believe due process of law and our system of advocacy don't really work, or are only PR gimmicks to placate the "do gooders," a recent Newsday article should be a wake-up call to the American trial bar. PESHAWAR, Pakistan -- Badr Zaman Badr and his brother Abdurrahim Muslim Dost relish writing a good joke that jabs a corrupt politician or distills the sufferings of fellow Afghans

Four Rules for Line-Ups May Greatly Reduce Mis-Identifications

2005-11-08T12:01:00.001-10:00

Professor Gary Wells has written an article for Frontline entitled Needed: New Legal Procedures. Excerpts: Gary Wells is professor of psychology at Iowa State University. He is at the forefront of experts who say the legal system itself is partly to blame for eyewitness errors because it is using risky, frequently biased methods to secure eyewitness identification. The experimental evidence,

Three New Technologies for the Courtroom

2005-11-07T15:12:00.000-10:00

A recent article discusses three new devices for quickly displaying documents to a jury in a non-linear order. The Devil Is in the Details: Managing Technology in the Courtroom Jon Trembath Special to Law.com November 3, 2005 Trial attorney Trembarth explains that showing your exhibits in sequential development ("linear") can easily be done by conventional software such as a Powerpoint slide

Cost per Day Court Transcript in Queensland

2005-11-06T03:10:00.000-10:00

18 July 2005 Queensland, Australia. The official Queensland court page gives the following information that can be compared with Hawaii; The number of pages in a [court]transcript depends on the length of the trial. As a rough guide, the transcript for a day-long trial with lots of evidence presented would be about 80 pages long. The trial court page then give the following prices for

Did the Attorney General Make any Progress?

2005-11-04T21:37:00.000-10:00

Sept 10, 1997 A Justice Official testified before Congress to the following: One of the Attorney General 's top priorities is to achieve a just resolution of federal court cases as quickly as possible. The Department has been very active in promoting the use of Alternative Dispute Resolution (''ADR'') and other ways to streamline federal litigation, including cases involving property rights

Are There Enough Judges?

2005-11-04T13:52:00.000-10:00

There is nothing more important to a trial attorney than the availability of court time for a jury trial. The usual exception to this is when a jury trial will likely put your client in jail or result in a judgment for damages against your client. Nevertheless, every case sooner or later must be concluded, and this is efficiently accomplished by having a jury trial. If you can get one. The