NEWS FROM U.S. DISTRICT COURT
June 14, 2024
Filings in Divisional Shell Cases Now Public Entries. As of June 1, new civil cases filed in the Court’s divisional shell cases are now public documents. A shell case is an empty case created each year in CM/ECF. It contains no party information and there is no assigned judge. It is simply a shell that allows you to file your case initiating documents electronically instead of bringing them in person to the clerk’s office. When you file in a shell case, you will be warned that “The document you are filing will be immediately available to the public.” This change does not affect Social Security complaints, which will remain sealed; however, the docket entry will appear on the shell case public docket sheet.
New Case Budget Attorney. Mark Thomason has joined the Eighth Circuit as the CJA Case Budgeting Attorney. Mark worked as a private criminal defense attorney in Kansas City, Missouri for the past 19 years including as a CJA panel attorney in both the Western District of Missouri and the District of Kansas. His primary role as CJA Case Budgeting Attorney is to assist CJA panel attorneys in preparing case budgets for large discovery, multi-defendant, and complex and extended litigation cases. Working with Mark early in a case will give you an opportunity to brainstorm and develop a litigation plan. Case budgeting has many benefits such as improving case management, efficiently managing discovery early in a case, promoting high quality representation, identifying cost savings, and providing advance notice to the Court of the expected cost of litigation. In addition, Mark is also able to assist you with general case management, large and unorganized discovery issues, and locating experts and other service providers. Mark is happy to serve as a resource for the CJA panel to assist with general CJA policy and procedure questions and issues. We encourage you to reach out to him for any case where you anticipate exceeding the statutory maximum. He can be reached at Mark_Thomason@ca8.uscourts.gov or (314)917-3932.
2024 Virtual POWER Act Event. This year’s virtual POWER Act event will be held on Friday, July 19th at 1:00 PM (EST). It will address the unique challenges associated with representing victims of domestic violence in sovereign nations. We will post the flyer on our website on June 20th.
Reminder. The Court will be closed on Wednesday, June 19th for Juneteenth National Independence Day.