We learned a lot from Judge Locke -- Tufts Judicial Series

On June 2, 2021, Becky Goldberg (recent Columbia Law School Graduate) and Marc Sittenreich (Garfunkel Wild) interviewed Magistrate Steven Locke of the United States District Court, Eastern District of New York (EDNY).

Judge Locke discussed the unique attributes of Magistrate Judges, including its history and diversity of usage throughout the United States District Courts.  He described that EDNY currently has a huge caseload and that the Magistrate Judges handle the civil cases mostly through the discovery and motion for summary judgment stages of the litigation.  He described his thoughts on bail decisions, including implicit biases, and the effort that he commits towards the cases he adjudicates.  

Judge Locke promoted the strong benefits of clerkship as well as service as an Associate United States Attorney.  He described how much he enjoys working with his law clerks and interns.  He prefers to hire his law clerks after a couple years of experience.  

The TLA's Tufts Judicial Series is making connections.  Judge Locke described how he has been in touch with Judge Birotte after his program.  He mentioned that he may adopt Judge Birotte's policy of allowing oral argument if an attorney with less than seven years experience handles the argument.  In addition, during the networking portion of the meeting, Judge Locke's friend from Tufts re-connected with Judge Locke from India!  Despite it being 5AM in India, Guatam Chawla and Judge Locke recounted old times during the call.  It was fun to see.   Below is a screenshot of that moment.  

Thank you Judge Locke for sharing your time with us this week.  And, great job moderating Marc and Becky!  

We will post the recording once it is available.  If you have questions about the Tufts Judicial Series or the Tufts Lawyers Association, contact me, Tom Dunn, TLA President, at rtdunn@PierceAtwood.com