I write regarding the New Jersey Law Journal's Dec. 26, 2019, article by Charles Toutant entitled "Federal Judge in Newark Leads District of New Jersey in Outstanding Motions Pending."

While I (along with a litany of current and former colleagues from the federal bench and bar) am a longtime supporter of the New Jersey Law Journal, I was very disappointed and dismayed with the headline, subject and inferences in the article. Having recently retired as Chief Judge of the U.S. District Court for the District of New Jersey, I am acutely aware of the unique difficulties plaguing the Federal Judiciary. In fact, I was interviewed on several occasions by your newspaper and addressed the judicial crisis directly responsible for many of the issues highlighted in the article.

Inexplicably, the article makes no real mention of the "judicial crisis," which was covered frequently by the New Jersey Law Journal as recently as last year, beyond merely calling it a "severe judge shortage." Instead, it attacks individual judges who are dealing with historically large dockets resulting from the judicial vacancies in our district, and many of the aged motions highlighted in the article are the byproduct of those vacancies. Judge John Michael Vazquez, a well-respected jurist with a great reputation, in particular receives extensive coverage—and a photo; neither of which was necessary, nor did it serve any legitimate purpose. This coverage did a great disservice to the hard-working men and women of our Court, and highlighting the particular experience of any given judge, is poor form.

I commend my former colleagues, especially Chief Judge Freda Wolfson and Judge Vazquez, for not commenting on the article, for it is not deserving of such treatment or attention by our Court. However, rest assured that a proper portrayal of what our Federal Court's daily docket looks like, and the expansive efforts of our Court to balance the speedy trial mandates of criminal cases, exploding deadlines of Hatch-Waxman matters, and other unexpected, emergent relief requested by our Court's litigants, would have resulted in a fairer and more accurate picture of our Federal Court.

I sincerely hope that further publications by your newspaper will consider the multitude of challenges facing our District. Thank you.

Jose L. Linares is a former Judge of the U.S. District Court for the District of New Jersey, and the former Chief Judge of that same court from 2017 to 2019. He returned to private practice at McCarter & English, where he chairs the Alternative Dispute Resolution practice.