SIDEBAR Fall 2018 - 20

MONTGOMERYBAR.ORG

SIDEBAR FEATURE

MBA Welcomes
New Chief U.S. District Judge
for the Eastern District of PA
By Robert R. Watson, Jr., Esq. and Denise S. Vicario, Esq.

O

n September 6th, the MBA was pleased to welcome
incoming Chief U.S. District Judge Juan R. Sánchez
to Norristown for a meet-and-greet and update from
our Federal District Court. Sponsored by Cary Flitter and Greg
Voshell of the Federal Court Practice Committee, Chief Judge
Sánchez made a morning visit to the Bar Association, providing
commentary and insights following the first month-and-a-half
spent in his new position as Chief District Judge.
The Eastern District of Pennsylvania is the third-busiest
Federal District Court in the country. Chief Judge Sánchez,
who has been a Federal District Judge since 2004, expressed his
pride and support for the Eastern District's current track record
of efficiency and streamlined operations for both litigants and
attorneys. While born in Puerto Rico and growing up a native
of the Bronx, Judge Sánchez hails from Chester County, where
he was in the Public Defender's office from 1984 until 1997,

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and served as Common Pleas Judge from 1998 to 2004. The
MBA was glad Judge Sánchez took a break on his commute into
Center City to meet with us.
In addition to discussing the Federal District Court's general
operations and procedures, Judge Sánchez discussed pro bono
opportunities at the Federal Court, which are near and dear to
him personally. He hopes to engage more County attorneys into
these programs while providing pro se litigants with competent
and effective legal representation, and to continue to maintain a
robust panel of participants.
Current volunteer opportunities include participation in
panels that deal with prisoner civil rights and employment
claims. The prisoner civil rights panel provides legal
representation to prison inmates for constitutional violations
alleged to have occurred during incarceration. The employment
panel members represent plaintiffs in cases brought under Title
https://montgomerybar.org/
SIDEBAR Fall 2018

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of SIDEBAR Fall 2018
