Politico reports withdrawn judicial nominee Matthew Petersen’s unfamiliarity with basic points of courtroom procedure is “emblematic of a phenomenon that may dog more judicial nominees going forward: there are simply fewer and fewer trials in American courts, and more and more lawyers who have never argued any.” Part of the reason is that “rising costs of legal work and of the pre-trial discovery process,” as well as business’ drive for mandatory arbitration has resulted in fewer civil trials. Meanwhile, “many lawyers and judges see insidious consequences to trials becoming more of an oddity than a norm,” encouraging “investigators to rely on evidence that may be good enough to get an indictment, but wouldn’t meet the high standard needed in a trial.”
From the news release of the American Association for Justice.
