Professor of Law Katherine Macfarlane recently spoke with Law.com for the article “Judge Shopping ‘Consequences’ Are Worth Keeping Tabs On, Experts Say.” The article examines the trend of judge shopping at the Federal level and sanctions being issued to law firms.
“I think we’re in an era where there’s a little bit more openness about challenging judicial behavior outside of how the merits are decided,” said Macfarlane.
“The thing to keep in mind is that random case assignment is subject to so many exceptions across the federal courts. Random assignment is this exalted principle, but I don’t even know if it’s the default,” said Macfarlane.
Macfarlane covered this topic in her article Constitutional Case Assignment in the North Carolina Law Review Vol. 102.