by Joe Wilhelm Jr.
staff writer
The U.S. District Court of the Middle District of Florida admitted 34 attorneys, both new and returning, to practice law in the federal court system Thursday.
Attorneys who attended the admission ceremony were graduates of Florida law schools including the University of Florida, Florida State University, Stetson University, Florida Coastal School of Law and Nova Southeastern University, as well as other schools from across the country.
The group was sworn in by U.S. Magistrate Judge James Klindt in courtroom 5D of the Bryan Simpson United States Courthouse Downtown.
The Middle District of Florida encompasses 35 counties and includes three of the six largest metropolitan areas in the state: Tampa, Orlando and Jacksonville. It’s jurisdiction stretches from the Georgia border to just south of Naples.
It is one of the busiest federal district courts in the nation.
In fiscal year 2006 a total of 8,561 civil and criminal cases were filed in FLMD. Approximately 79 percent of those were civil cases. There were 559 weighted case filings per active judge in FY 2006 placing, FLMD first among the nine districts of the 11th Circuit and 11th nationally out of 94 districts.
The caseload per active district judge in FLMD is more than 20 percent above the national average and 30 percent more than the Judicial Conference standard of 430 weighted cases.
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