Big news! The White House announced today that Judge Leonard P. Stark of the District of Delaware is set to be nominated to the Federal Circuit.
Assuming he is confirmed, Judge Stark will actually be the second judge to be elevated to an appellate court from the District of Delaware in recent memory, following The Honorable Kent A. Jordan's elevation to the Third Circuit in 2006.
Congratulations to Judge Stark!
Another Judicial Vacancy? No problem.
Despite its enormous patent case load, the District of Delaware remains a small court, with just four district court judges (although the Judicial Conference has long recommended expanding that number). If Judge Stark leaves the District of Delaware, the district court will be down to just three Article III judges.
Luckily the Court has already proven very capable of dealing with vacancies, including through its visiting judge program. The District of Delaware is also fortunate to have four capable magistrate judges, who often play a large role in cases and sometimes take cases by consent.
I expect that to the extent there is a vacancy, the Court will use its visiting judge program and its magistrate judges to help fill any gaps, and will continue to operate smoothly.
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