by Joe Wilhelm Jr.
Staff Writer
The Jacksonville Bar Association hosted a sidebar luncheon Thursday at the Bryan Simpson U.S. Courthouse that focused on civility and professionalism.
U.S. Magistrate Judges James Klindt, Thomas Morris, Monte Richardson and Joel Toomey visited with about 50 members of The JBA to share lunch from Tidbits and conversation regarding professionalism in the courtroom.
“We had a good turnout and the judges were great to take some time out of their busy schedules to attend,” said JBA Judicial Relations Committee Chair Marianne Lloyd Aho.
The sidebar program was developed to provide a casual atmosphere for judges and lawyers to discuss courtroom issues.
Judges are able to express how they expect attorneys to execute their duties in the courtroom and attorneys are able to discuss problems and concerns.
Jacksonville is in the Middle District of Florida and has one of the busiest federal district courts in the nation.
In fiscal 2009, a total of 9,646 civil and criminal cases were filed in the Middle District.
About 84 percent of those were civil cases.
There were 622 weighted case filings per active judge in fiscal 2009, placing the Middle District first among the nine districts of the 11th Circuit and fifth nationally out of 94 districts.
The caseload per active district judge in the Middle District is more than 30 percent above the national average and is 45 percent above the Judicial Conference standard of 430 new weighted cases a year.
During a question-and-answer session with the group, Richardson was asked about the re-entry court and he explained that it is a pilot program developed to reduce recidivism among offenders.
“There are a lot of things that people have to do once they leave prison to start their life over. They have to find a place to stay, get a job, open a bank account,” said Richardson.
“Through the program, they set goals and learn how to achieve those goals. Upon completion of the program they can reduce time on their sentence,” he said.
Klindt said he has been impressed with the program that began in the Jacksonville Division of the Middle District.
“It has amazed me how hard the offenders are working in the program,” said Klindt.
“It’s really uplifting to see people in the program working so hard to return to society,” he said.
None of the four judges had a problem with attorneys calling their chambers with questions.
Klindt suggested that if someone planned to call his office, he or she should notify opposing counsel of the call.
Klindt added that if the issue is important enough to warrant a call to his office, then the lawyer should be making the call.
“You don’t know what your law clerks are saying or how they are saying it. It would be better if you would take the time to call yourself,” he said.
Toomey suggested brevity when filing documents with the court.
“Unlike state court, where a lot of the work is oral, the federal court is a lot of written work,” said Toomey.
“Don’t use 25 pages to make your point just because you have 25 pages. If your point can be made in fewer pages, then you should do so,” he said.
Toomey suggested using the “Middle District Discovery Handbook,” which can be found on the Middle District website.
The next Sidebar Luncheon will be in September.
356-2466