NCJ Number
97564
Date Published
1982
Length
160 pages
Annotation
These conference proceedings address the extent of civil court delay, its causes, and the effectiveness of proposed remedies and identify issues related to delay that require further research and policy consideration.
Abstract
The first session of the conference dealt with three empirical studies of delay in the courts: the National Center for State Courts' 'Justice Delay,' the Federal Judicial Center's 'Case Management and Court Management in U.S. District Courts,' and the University of Wisconsin Civil Litigation Research Project's 'Pace of Litigation in Federal and State Trial Courts.' Each study presents a different perspective on the causes of civil court delay and on the ability of the courts to control the pace of litigation, but the results are shown to be inconsistent with each other. In the second session, four attorneys considered the optimal length of time required to prepare different kinds of cases for adjudication, the incentives that clients and attorneys have to expedite or delay cases, and the effect of court management practices on attorneys' management of their own practices. The third session focused on three studies of court-administered and commercial arbitration. Data on the effects of both private contractual arbitration and court-annexed arbitration on the time required to dispose of cases were presented. Results indicated that voluntary arbitration can expedite civil case disposition by promoting earlier settlement and by providing for an earlier hearing of the case. One table and 24 figures are provided; conference participants are listed.