A Faster Docket with Patent and Privacy Cases

The pace of cases in CDCA will pick up as part of a concerted effort to reduce the backlog caused by the pandemic

Litigants can expect several significant trends in the Central District of California during 2023. Most notably, cases should move more quickly and the number involving patent and privacy issues should increase.

According to Emily Kuwahara, a partner in Crowell & Moring’s Litigation Group, the pace of the CDCA docket will pick up as part of a concerted effort to re­duce the backlog of pandemic-era cases. “The district paused jury trials in much of 2020 through early 2022 due to COVID outbreaks,” she says. “Judges, plaintiffs, and defendants all want to restore the caseload to a more reasonable level, and we expect judges to grant fewer contin­uances and hold parties to their sched­ules.” Adding to that, CDCA has eight new judges confirmed since 2020, filling some long-open vacancies.

Read the complete article in the Litigation Forecast 2023.