In his 2010 year-end report on the federal judiciary, U.S. Supreme Court chief justice John Roberts zeroed in on the Senate’s delay in confirming judicial nominees, calling it a “persistent problem” that had caused “acute difficulties for some judicial districts.” Some Am Law 200 litigators describe the lag in other terms: disruptive and expensive.
Midway through President Barack Obama’s term, the Senate had confirmed 62 of his nominees. At the same point in President George W. Bush’s tenure, 100 of his appointees had been confirmed. As of January, 101 judgeships (about 10 percent of the federal judiciary) were vacant, and the Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts had deemed 47 of the vacancies emergencies. The situation was most dire in the Fifth Judicial Circuit, where 11 of the 12 vacancies–including the two open appellate seats–were considered emergencies.
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