THE JUDICIAL BUSINESS OF THE UNITED STATES The Eastern District of Louisiana has two judgeships, the second of which was established in 1938. Court is held at New Orleans, where both judges reside, and at Baton Rouge. More civil cases are filed per fudgeship in this district than in any other in the country. This has been the case for the last five fiscal years. The flow of all civil cases and private civil cases during the last five fiscal years is shown in the following table: The heavy civil caseload of the district is due entirely to the great number of private cases filed. As far as cases in which the United States is a party are concerned, the district receives fewer than the average for the 86 districts. A number of factors peculiar to the district or the State of Louisiana contribute to the filing of a huge private civil caseload. One factor is the recent growth of the Port of New Orleans to the second port of the nation. This maritime growth has flooded the local district court with admiralty actions. Another factor is the Louisiana direct action statute which permits a suit directly against a tort feasor's insurance company without making the insured a party defendant. Diversity of citizenship is established in these cases if the insurance company is incorporated in another state and does not have its principal place of business in Louisiana, even though all the persons involved in the accident are residents of Louisiana. Another factor favoring the federal court as a desirable forum is the fact that the state appellate court is not bound as the federal appellate courts are by the findings of a jury in a lower court. Also, there is a decided preference among New Orleans lawyers to use the federal court rather than the state court, despite the fact that a trial may be had in the state court in a matter of a few weeks. Types of Civil Cases Commenced Fewer United States cases as a whole are filed per Judgeship in Eastern Louisiana than nationally. This is because the United States plaintiff cases are low in number. 2 The United States defendant case average is somewhat higher, especially in suits involving disputed federal taxes. The caseload per judgeship of private civil cases for the district is an unbelievable 726 compared to the national average of 129 during 1959. In the Federal Question category, the comparison is 146 cases per judgeship for Eastern Louisiana compared with 37 nationally. The district's admiralty business is reflected in this figure as suits for injuries to seamen brought under the Jones Act numbered 110 per judge. The diversity of citizenship cases commenced further demonstrate the extreme disparity between the district's caseload per judgeship and the national average. In 1959, the district's caseload in this jurisdictional category was 372, compared with 77 per judgeship nationally. The average for insurance and other contract cases was relatively close to the national average. But personal injury actions in the Eastern District averaged 323 per judgeship compared to the national figure of 33. In private admiralty cases, the great disparity also existed - 209 cases to 15 per judgeship nationally. Pending Civil Cases The 2,789 civil cases pending June 30, 1959, present a formidable problem to effect their disposition. Not only is there a tremendous number of cases, but among them are many difficult natures of suit and a more than usual number The following table shows the number of cases of old cases. pending on June 30, 1959, by jurisdiction categories and Among the United States cases, one nature of suit · actions against the government for tax refunds has 63 cases pending, of which 11 are five or more years old. Among the 505 Federal Question cases are 376 Jones Act suits. Among the diversity of citizenship cases are 598 for personal injuries due to motor vehicles and 402 for other types of negligent personal injuries. Contract and insurance actions, which number 147, have 15 cases five or more years old. Time Interval Required to Reach Trial During most of the years beginning with fiscal 1945, the median time interval for the period required to dispose of |