Virginia’s Courts are fast, but is the “Rocket Docket” still the fastest?

Fast running, biking, swimming AND talking injury lawyer Doug Landau with his Awards from the Bristow "Salute to the Military" Sprint Triathlon at Vint Hill, Warrenton, Virginia
Fast running, biking, swimming, talking AND working injury lawyer Doug Landau with his Awards from the Bristow “Salute to the Military” Sprint Triathlon held July 18th, 2010 at Vint Hill, Warrenton, Virginia

“How long will it take to get to trial?”  Herndon Reston trial lawyer Doug Landau hears that question often.  The dog attack and car crash attorney routinely tells clients that cases move very quickly in Northern Virginia, faster than just about anywhere else in the country.   The Virginia and Florida injury lawyer tells clients and their families that if they think their counsel talks fast and runs fast, the Courts in the jurisdictions surrounding the Law Shop are even faster!  That is why the ABRAMS LANDAU trial team tries to have their car crash, premises liability and dog bite accident cases ready for court on at the time they file these personal injury lawsuits.

The statistics released by the Federal government back up Landau’s advice to injured clients.  According to the Judicial Business 2009 Report from the U.S. Courts website as reported in Lawyers Weekly, the Eastern District of Virginia, which has a courthouse in Alexandria and includes Fairfax County, is the fastest Federal District Court in the country.  Not only are cases tried within a year of filing, it is 10 months between filing and trial for civil cases. But Florida’s federal courts are fast gaining on the Commonwealth, especially considering their higher volume of cases. Virginia’s Western District, by contrast, posted a highly respectable 21 months from filing to trial completion of its 11 civil cases.  The slowest Federal Courts are found in Illinois’ Southern District: only 21 cases, but 54 months from filing to completed trial (that’s 4 and a half years!).

Median Number of Months from Filing to Trial for Civil Cases with Completed Trials From Sept. 30, 2008 to Sept. 30, 2009, with (Number of Trials):

  1. Virginia, Eastern District 10.2 (38)
  2. Wisconsin, Western District 15 (14)
  3. Arkansas, Western District 15 (19)
  4. Alabama, Middle District 15 (18)
  5. Florida, Southern District 15.7 (105)
  6. Florida, Northern District 16 (27)
  7. Nebraska 16.7 (17)
  8. Ohio, Northern District 17 (40)
  9. Texas, Western District 17.5 (50)
  10. Alabama, Southern District 18 (12)

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