Here at the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania federal courthouse in Philadelphia, I often hear about two general concerns—one from young attorneys and one from judges. The first lament, from young attorneys, often who are working at large or medium-sized firms, is that they lack opportunities to get hands-on federal litigation experience, and particularly that they lack time in front of judges or juries. The second concern comes from my colleagues on the bench and grows out of the challenge of efficiently managing pro se civil cases.
With approximately 10,000 cases being filed in our court every year, we are one of the busiest courts in the country. More than 5 percent of our docket consists of civil suits filed by pro se litigants and a large number of those cases, typically filed by prisoners, allege civil rights violations. I write to explain how our court’s Prisoner Civil Rights Panel program addresses both of these concerns, providing meaningful opportunities for lawyers to have in-court experience, while also providing meaningful assistance to the court in managing a demanding and important aspect of our docket.
