Report on the Los Angeles County Bar Association's Federal Courts Symposium Featuring Judges of the Central District of California
| Publication year | 2020 |
| Author | By Allison Westfahl Kong |
By Allison Westfahl Kong
Allison Westfahl Kong is the Chief of the General Crimes Section at the U.S. Attorney's Office in Los Angeles and a member of the CLA Litigation Section's Committee on Federal Courts. Any views expressed are her own and do not represent the views of the U.S. Department of Justice.
On October 30, 2019, the Los Angeles County Bar Association's Litigation Section put on a federal courts symposium featuring ten judges of the Central District of California. The symposium, co-sponsored by the Los Angeles Chapter of the Federal Bar Association, featured updates from the Chief District Judge and Chief Magistrate Judge, as well as panel discussions on settlement conferences, trial practice tips, and the "do's and don'ts" of practicing before judges and magistrate judges.
After introductions from Aaron May (Huang Ybarra Gelberg & May LLP) and Monisha Coelho (Adli Law Group), Chief District Judge Virginia Phillips and Chief Magistrate Judge Patrick Walsh discussed the state of the district. Chief Judge Phillips outlined various challenges faced by the district — most notably, the nine judicial vacancies and the lack of a federal budget and risk of another government shutdown. Despite an increase in both criminal and civil case filings, there are fewer judges to hear those cases, so each active judge in the district has a caseload that is nearly double that of the average federal judge. Chief Judge Phillips lamented that since becoming Chief Judge in 2016, she has not had the privilege of swearing in a single new district judge, noting that one vacancy has been open for five years. The workload of the judges in the district was a recurring theme throughout the symposium.
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Chief Magistrate Judge Walsh provided an overview of the responsibilities of magistrate judges in the district and addressed upcoming changes to the magistrate judge bench, noting that Magistrate Judge Paul Abrams would become the Chief Magistrate Judge on December 31, and that both Magistrate Judges Segal and Mumm would be stepping down. Replacements for Judges Segal and Mumm have been chosen and will be announced at a later date. In discussing magistrate judges' responsibilities, including overseeing the criminal duty calendar, settlement conferences, and discovery disputes, Judge Walsh highlighted the consent calendar, where parties can consent to have their case heard by a magistrate judge. Judge Walsh noted that consenting to a magistrate judge was one way to alleviate the heavy workload of district judges. He further observed that magistrate judges may have more flexibility to set earlier trial dates, particularly since district judges must give criminal trials priority over civil trials.
Following the reports on the district, the first panel discussed best practices in settlement conferences. It was moderated by Geoffrey Stover (Steinbrecher & Span LLP) and featured Magistrate Judges John McDermott and Suzanne Segal and District Judge James Otero.
Panelists first addressed the factors to consider in choosing between the three alternative dispute resolution (ADR) options in the district — a settlement conference with...
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