Federal Law News

Civil Procedure When They Were First Adopted For The Federal Courts

Authorization for practicing case management actually existed in the U.S. Federal Rules of Civil Procedure when they were first adopted for the federal courts in 1938. The techniques authorized were, however, rarely used. Federal and state judges first began to embrace case-management principles and practices on a regular basis only in the late 1970s, and such practices became widespread only in the 1980s and early 1990s.

In 1977, the U.S. Federal Judicial Center prepared a report on case and court management in which the worth of the practice was briefly outlined:

"Empirical studies reveal that when a trial judge intervenes personally at an early stage to assume judicial control over a case and to schedule dates for completion by the parties of the principal pre-trial steps, the case is disposed of by settlement or trial more efficiently and with less cost and delay than when the parties are left to their own devices."

There are several significant reasons why more and more judges in the United States are using case management techniques:

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