He was referring to the level of the court system. The higher up you go the better the judges get. The quality of municipal court judges is vastly different to

He was referring to the level of the court system. The higher up you go the better the judges get. The quality of municipal court judges is vastly different to Federal Circuit court. The 9th is just 1-2 stops below the US Supreme court. Also, they don't get to chose the judge but with enough money you do get to chose the district. Flying lawyers out to court costs money (they do bill you for the flight and flight time) and has been used in the past by some plaintiffs to extract a settlement.