The Times Picayune Newspaper and nola.com investigated and wrote an article about the time period for cases to proceed through the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Louisiana. The reporter interviewed, Eric Nowak. Eric is a founding partner of Harrell & Nowak – a law firm that handles commercial, personal injury, medical malpractice, and environmental cases. He is also the President Elect of the New Orleans Chapter of the Federal Bar Association. Both Eric and a local Federal Judge explained that the “median” statistic that raised the inquiry did not accurately depict the docket in this District. Rather it is a statistic that includes thousands of complex multidistrict litigation cases that this District efficiently handles. Additionally, the Courts’ report and previous reports show that the District’s Judges give time to other Districts that need judicial assistance. All of this is done even though the Court had 3 judicial vacancies in the past year, and with the District handling thousands of Hurricane Katrina and BP Oil Spill cases.
