Madison County's busiest judge now has some help.
Circuit Judge Daniel J. Stack will have legal clerks to help him with his civil docket throughout the summer.
"I am so thrilled," Stack said in a recent interview. "Really, I am very happy about it."
Stack said that the American Bar Association is supplying him with a law clerk for six weeks this summer and that two law students will also join him for credits toward their degree.
Stack said the clerks will be working on the court's Atrazine class action cases.
Stack, Madison County's asbestos and Chief Civil Judge, said the clerks will work on book briefs and memos for him on the Atrazine cases and then he will make his decision.
"The Atrazine cases are a big deal and they (clerks) are looking forward to working on them," Stack said.
Other judges in Madison County may also receive a law clerk this summer or in the future, Stack said.
In the past couple of years, Stack said he has fallen behind in some of his cases he has under advisement because of complex litigation that has gone to trial.
Stack has had a Vioxx trial, a weld rod trial, several asbestos trials and a medical malpractice trial that have consumed a lot of his attention, he said.
He has worked on weekends to try to catch up with cases, but says the clerks will be a tremendous help.