 |
|
If closing cases is a measure of judicial efficiency, U.S. District Judge Robert Scola in Miami holds the title for the Southern District of Florida, according to a new report.
Syracuse University's Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse, or TRAC, compiled data for the first time on case management trends in federal district courts, looking at the top judges and the cases they closed in the year ended June 30.
The statistics show Scola closed 536 cases, slightly more than the 533 closed by U.S. District Judge William Zloch in Fort Lauderdale. U.S. District Judge Cecilia Altonaga in Miami closed 501, followed by U.S. District Judge James Cohn in Fort Lauderdale with 496.
Scola said he was surprised to lead the district, saying he was never known for case closings while on the Miami-Dade Circuit bench. He became a federal judge in 2011.
"You can't make a case disappear, but you can rule on pending motions, and 99 percent of civil cases settle," he said. "It just puts the parties in a better position to settle the case."
|
|
|
|
