The New Jersey State Bar Association hosted more than a dozen New Jersey federal judges on April 11 for a special NJICLE event on the interplay between federal and state court procedure.
The first-ever Federal Practice Bench-Bar Symposium, held at the New Jersey Law Center, provided an overview of the best practices in federal court – brief writing, schedule and how to present your case – as told by judges with decades on the bench and experienced federal practitioners. The program was developed in collaboration between the NJSBA, NJICLE and Association of the Federal Bar of New Jersey.
More than 200 people attended in the inaugural event both in person and virtually, a promising turnout that bodes well for the symposium to become an annual gathering, according to Victor Afanador, the federal bar president.
“It is my hope that we do this every year, so long as we have the interest and the support from our practitioners and bench,” Afanador said.
NJSBA President Timothy F. McGoughran opened the symposium by calling it a perfect example of the vital partnership between bench and bar.
“I encourage everyone to soak in this rare opportunity to learn from the best. There is no substitute for the experience these individuals can offer,” he said. “With the amount of judicial expertise in the room today, hearing directly from these acclaimed panels can only inure to your benefit in mastering the essentials of federal civil and criminal practice.”
U.S. Chief Judge District Court for the District of New Jersey Renée Marie Bumb, who served as a moderator, said she hoped the daylong series of seminars would help demystify the practice of federal law, which can be daunting for state court practitioners.
“This is an opportunity to provide the framework primarily for our state practitioners to cover the basic fundamentals from the civil and criminal side,” Judge Bumb said. “You will become more familiar with what it’s like to file a civil complaint, to bring the right motion before the court, to learn about how judges respond.”