NCJ Number
120733
Date Published
1989
Length
65 pages
Annotation
As a result of a review of the Blair County (Pennsylvania) Court of Common Pleas to assess case management, examine apparent problems, and recommend improvements, the National Center for State Courts developed a case management plan for managing the progress to disposition of civil and family cases.
Abstract
The plan urged the court to recognize several elements of effective case management: court control of litigation, explicit case-processing goals, effective communication with the bar, early and continuous court supervision of case progress, trial-date certainty, a functional case management information system, and a plan for attacking the case inventory. The attorneys felt the most important issue for improved civil case management was court rulings on motions; they proposed a quota on the number of outstanding decisions that any judge may have for a civil case. Several practical details need to be resolved between the district court administrator and the prothonotary, such as the most effective means of communicating regarding the filing of each new civil case. 4 appendixes.