Abstract
Professor Longan examines the need and potential for an amendment to Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 16 to authorize federal trial judges to impose time limits on trials. Professor Longan demonstrates statistically that federal judges are spending a dwindling amount of time trying civil cases and concludes that this trend is unlikely to end soon. This Article then discusses the critical importance of trials in guiding other litigants to fair settlements and describes how the dwindling supply of trial time, and the substitution of alternative dispute resolution for trial, undermine the settlement process. Professor Longan concludes that civil trial time must be used efficiently and discusses, from an economic perspective, why trials last too long. He demonstrates the theoretical superiority of time limits over other devices for shortening trials and offers practical suggestions for trial judges who wish to use their authority to reduce civil trials to an appropriate size.
How to Cite
35 Ariz. L. Rev. 663 (1993)
5
Views
2
Downloads