By-the-way, what is so special about the federal court in Alexandria?

Simply put, it is the fastest federal civil trial court in the country, and has been for many years.

For example, according to 2023 U.S. government data, it took a median time of 16.4 months from filing to disposition by civil trial for a case filed in the E.D. Va.  By contrast, the same interval took a median time of just over 3 years in the federal court in Maryland and over 4 years in the federal court in Washington, D.C.

The E.D. Va. achieves this because its judges have adopted – and strongly enforce! – truncated pre-trial procedural rules.  This is why the E.D. Va. is colloquially known as the “Rocket Docket.”