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Troubled Pa. Court Asks Lawyers to Volunteer to Reduce Trial Backlog

Posted Nov 6, 2009, 06:15 pm CST
By Martha Neil

Faced with a shortage of two judges, in the wake of misconduct charges, and a backlog of 1,382 cases that are supposed to be tried by January, a Pennsylvania court is calling for seasoned practitioners to volunteer as special trial masters.

With the parties' permission, they can oversee jury trials, reports the Times-Leader, as Luzerne County President Judge Chester Muroski presses the state legislature to fill two vacant seats.

As detailed in earlier ABAJournal.com posts, ex-judge Mark Ciavarella is presently facing federal corruption charges, along with another former longtime Luzerne judge, concerning alleged kids-for-cash jailing of juveniles and other claimed misconduct. The second vacancy on the Luzerne bench, however, was created by a judicial discipline case against another… Continue reading...



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