Measuring the Pace of Civil Litigation in Federal and State Trial Courts

• NCJ Number: 79244
• Journal: Judicature Volume: 65 Issue: 2 Dated: (August 1981) Pages: 86-113
• Author(s): J B Grossman; H M Kritzer; K Bumiller; S McDougal
• Date Published: 1981
• Length: 28 pages
• Publication Format: Article
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America
• Note: An earlier version was presented at the Rand Corporation's Conference on The Pace of Litigation, May 13-15, 1981 in Santa Monica, California.

Annotation

This article advocates using a mathematical survival analysis technique to compare rates at which courts terminate cases and to identify the pace of litigation for different kinds of cases and different courts, so that the stages of the litigation process which contribute most to court delay can be recognized.

Abstract

In examining the pace of litigation, the impact of time and timing on litigation interests and strategies, on outcomes, and on the behavioral organization of courts is crucial. The concept of delay is inadequate because of its negative connotation and because literature on the problem has produced only ambiguous, unmeasurable explanations, such as local legal culture, supply and demand, organization theory, and role theory. This study used data drawn from the records of 1,649 cases in State and Federal courts in 5 Federal judicial districts. Survival analysis examines the time interval separating the two events of a given sample and provides for statistical comparisons of the distributions of survival times for one more independently drawn sample or subsample. The general pattern of case terminations to emerge from this analysis (performed for 10 courts at 1-month intervals over 70 months), yielded a large percentage of cases terminated within 1 year and a very small group of cases lingering undisposed for longer periods. The slope of the survival curve, interpreted as the rate of termination activity, was gradual over the middle range of 1 to 3 years. These survival patterns give a clearer picture of delay than measures of median or mean processing time or time to trial. Comparisons were made between State and Federal courts within the same district, and among the State courts and Federal courts as distinct groups. Controlling for characteristics of civil cases (area of law, diversity of citizenship jurisdiction, mode of termination, and the volume of discovery), significant differences were identified in the pace of litigation which may, in turn, affect the strategic choices made by litigants. Footnotes and numerous graphs are given.