Judiciary News

Fees for filing a Chapter 11 bankruptcy case will increase for cases filed on or after November 21, 2012. The fee increase was included in the Temporary Bankruptcy Judgeships Extension Act of 2012 (Pub. L. No. 112-121) which was signed into law by the President on May 25, 2012.

Judge Frank Whitney joined the United States Army Reserve right out of college. When he was appointed a federal judge for the Western District of North Carolina, he continued to serve his country in the military. Last year the two jobs merged.

Federal and state applications for orders authorizing or approving wiretaps dropped 14 percent in 2011, with 85 percent of all applications citing illegal drugs as the offense under investigation.

The Supreme Court has handed down the last of its decisions for the 2011 Term. A Term of the Supreme Court begins, by statute, on the first Monday in October and Court sessions continue until late June or early July. Learn more about how the court operates.d down the last of its decisions for the 2011 Term. Learn more about how the court operates.

Some 30 years after the federal district courts started experimenting with alternative dispute resolution, more than one third of all federal trial courts regularly offer multiple forms of ADR, according to an informal survey by the Federal Judicial Center.

Senior District Judge Robert J. Kelleher, at 99, the oldest-serving federal judge in the nation, died on June 20, 2012.

The William O. Douglas U.S Courthouse and Federal Building in Yakima, Washington celebrates its 100th birthday on June 21, 2012. The courthouse is home to district, magistrate and bankruptcy judges in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Washington.

U.S. bankruptcy courts increasingly are concerned with abuses committed by some non-lawyers in the business of helping prepare bankruptcy filing documents for a fee.

In early March 1891, Congress passed what has become known as the Evarts Act, which established the U.S. Courts of Appeals to ease the burden on the Supreme Court. The legislation took effect June 16, 1891.

The House Judiciary Committee has released its official prints of the federal rules package transmitted to Congress by the Supreme Court—House Documents 112-103 and 112-104. The amendments are under review in both the House and the Senate.

Judge Thomas F. Hogan, the first federal judge to head the Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts, faces new challenges daily – from finding adequate funding for the courts to defending the Judiciary’s independence.

An informal survey of district court clerks shows courts are taking steps to adjust to reduced funding levels. As resources are reduced, training programs, public outreach and IT services will all be negatively affected.

A Federal Judicial Center survey sent to almost 10,000 attorneys in civil cases asked if attorneys followed Federal Rules of Civil Procedure 26 (f), governing discovery, and participated in a Rule 16(b) scheduling conference with a judge or magistrate judge. The survey found that 73 percent of respondents reporting a Rule 26(f) meeting met for 30 minutes or less.

The President has signed the Temporary Bankruptcy Judgeships Extension Act of 2012, as Pub. L. No. 112-121. It extends 29 existing temporary judgeships for an additional five years. The bankruptcy judgeships in the bill were created or extended in 2005 as temporary judgeships.

Associate Justice John Paul Stevens received the Presidential Medal of Freedom this week. The Medal of Freedom is the Nation’s highest civilian honor, presented to individuals who have made especially meritorious contributions to the security or national interests of the United States, to world peace, or to cultural or other significant public or private endeavors.