The Judicial Conference of the United States has strengthened the policy governing random case assignment, limiting the ability of litigants to effectively choose judges in certain cases by where they file a lawsuit.
On March 12, 2024, the Judicial Conference of the United States announced an amendment of the policy governing random case assignment to “deter[] judge-shopping.” This amendment, effective immediately, applies to all civil actions that seek to bar or mandate state or federal actions by declaratory judgment or any form of injunctive relief. Such cases will be randomly assigned to a judge within an entire district rather than only within the division in which cases are filed (other types of cases may continue to be assigned to single-judge court divisions). Other than expanding Chief Judge Moses' December 2022 Amended Order beyond patent cases, it is unclear what practical effect the amended policy will have on patent filings in the Western District of Texas.
