2010 Civil Litigation Conference

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Welcome to the 2010 Conference on Civil Litigation's Website!
This site is designed to provide participants with background information about the purpose and
scope of the Conference, and access to Conference documents, including scholarly papers,
empirical research, and agenda materials.

2010 Conference on Civil Litigation
Duke Law School, Durham, NC
May 10-11, 2010

Purpose Statement:

At the request of the Standing Committee on Rules of Practice and Procedure, the Advisory Committee on Civil Rules is sponsoring a conference at Duke University School of Law on May 10 and 11, 2010 to explore the current costs of civil litigation, particularly discovery, and to discuss possible solutions. The Conference will rely on new empirical research done by the Federal Judicial Center to assess the degree of satisfaction with the performance of the present system and the suggestions of lawyers as to how the system can be improved. This research will be supplemented by additional empirical data. A major portion of the Conference will be devoted to an assessment and discussion of the empirical research.

The Conference will draw on insights and perspectives from lawyers, judges and academics concerning improvements that could be made in the federal civil litigation process to effectuate the purposes of the Civil Rules – "to secure the just, speedy, and inexpensive determination of every action and proceeding." In addition to considering the results of the empirical research, panels of experts will consider the range of issues in the federal civil litigation process that could be used more efficiently to accomplish the purposes of the Rules, including the discovery process (particularly E-Discovery), pleadings, and dispositive motions. Other topics to be considered include judicial management and the tools available to judges to expedite the process, the process of settlement, and the experience of the states.

While the Conference will explore these issues, an important part of the Conference will be to encourage follow up on the subjects explored at the Conference. It is hoped that the papers and discussion at the Conference will frame an agenda for possible amendments to the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, and that they will be a basis for judicial education through the Federal Judicial Center and for further action by the Bar.

Report to the Chief Justice, Supreme Court of the United States (pdf)

Conference Agenda (pdf)

Conference Panelists (pdf)

Empirical Research

ABA Litigation Section, Committee on Pretrial Practice & Discovery - Iqbal (2010) (pdf)

ABA Litigation Section, Special Committee on the Future of Civil Litigation (2010) (pdf)

ACTL/Institute Advancement Amer. Legal System - Final Report (2010) (pdf)

ACTL/Institute Advancement Amer. Legal System - Roadmap for Reform - Caseflow (2009) (pdf)

ACTL/Institute Advancement Amer. Legal System - Roadmap for Reform - Pilot (2009) (pdf)

American Bar Association - Standards re Pretrial Submissions and Orders (2008) (pdf)

American Bar Association, Litigation Section - Member Survey (2009) (pdf)

American Bar Association, Litigation Section - Summary, Narrative Survey Responses (2009) (pdf)

American Bar Association, Litigation Section, et al. - Summary Comparison (2010) (pdf)

American College Trial Lawyers/Institute Advancement Amer. Legal System - Report (2009) (pdf)

Eisenberg & Miller - Attorneys’ Fees in Class Action Settlements (2009) (pdf)

Federal Judicial Center - Attorney Satisfaction re Civil Rules (2009) (pdf)

Federal Judicial Center - Attorney Views re Costs (2009) (pdf)

Federal Judicial Center - Litigation Costs (2009) (pdf)

Federal Judicial Center - Survey (2009) (pdf)

Fulbright & Jaworski - E-Discovery Trends Survey (2009) (pdf)

Fulbright & Jaworski - Litigation Trends Survey (2009) (pdf)

Galanter & Frozena - Civil Trials in Federal Court (2010) (pdf)

Institute Advancement Amer. Legal System - Civil Case Processing (2010) (pdf)

Institute Advancement Amer. Legal System - Civil Litigation Survey (2009) (pdf)

Institute Advancement Amer. Legal System - Preserving Access (2010) (pdf)

Kuperman - Memorandum re Pleading Standards Post-Iqbal (2010) (pdf)

Lawyers for Civil Justice, et al., Reshaping Civil Rules (2010) (pdf)

Lawyers for Civil Justice, et al., Survey - Litigation Costs of Major Companies (2010) (pdf)

Nat’l Employment Lawyers Assoc - Survey of NELA Members (2009) (pdf)

New York City Bar Association - Proposals (2010) (pdf)

Seventh Circuit Bar Assoc - Final Report re Jury Project (2008) (pdf)

Seventh Circuit E-Discovery Pilot Program Report - Phase I (2009) (pdf)

Papers Submitted by Conference Panelists

The Bar Association Proposals

Civil Procedure in the 21st Century: Some Proposals (pdf)

Comments on the ACTL/IAALS "Pilot Project Rules" for Civil Litigation" by Certain Members of the ABA Litigation Section Special Committee on the Future of Civil Litigation (pdf)

Comments on the Proposals for the 2010 Duke Conference Regarding the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure (pdf)

Nineteenth Century Rules for Twenty-First Century Courts? - An Analysis and Critique of "A Roadmap for Reform, Pilot Project Rules" (pdf)

Proposal to Amend Rule 23 (pdf)

Proposals for the 2010 Duke Conference Regarding the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure (pdf)

Proposed Amendment to Rule 23 (pdf)

Report of the New York State Bar Association's Special Committee on Pleading Standards in Federal Litigation (pdf)

Reshaping the Rules of Civil Procedure for the 21st Century: The Need for Clear, Concise and Meaningful Amendments to Key Rules of Civil Procedure (pdf)

Summary Comparison of Bar Association Submissions to the Duke Conference Regarding the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure (pdf)

E-Discovery: Discussion of the Cost Benefit Analysis of E-Discovery and the Degree to Which the New Rules are Working or Not

E-Discovery is THE Discovery (pdf)

Electronic Discovery and Other Problems (pdf)

Elements of a Preservation Rule (pdf)

Preservation and Spoilation Revisited: Is it Time for Additional Rulemaking (pdf)

A Proposal to Implement a Cost-Effect and Efficient Procedural Tool into Federal Litigation Practice (pdf)

Sanctions for E-Discovery Violations: By the Numbers (pdf)

Walking the Plank, Over Your Shoulder, Fearing Sharks Are in the Water: E-Discovery in Federal Litigation (pdf)

Zublake Revisited: Pension Committee and the Duty to Preserve (pdf)

Issues With the Current State of Discovery: Is There Really Excessive Discovery, and if so, What are the Possible Solutions?

"The Centre Cannot Hold" - The Need for Effective Reform of the U.S. Civil Discovery Process (pdf)

From Both Sides Now: Additional Perspectives on "Uncovering Discovery" (pdf)

Pre-Trial Cost Reform Imperative to Preserving Endangered Jury Trial (pdf)

Pretrial Agreements (pdf); and Trial Agreements (pdf)

The State of Discovery Practice in Civil Cases: Must the Rules Be Changed to Reduce Costs and Burdens, or Can Significant Improvements Be Achieved Within the Existing Rules? (pdf)

Uncovering Discovery (pdf)

Judicial Management of the Litigation Process: Is the Solution to Excessive Cost and Delay Greater Judicial Involvement?

Are Civil Jury Trials Going the Way of the Dodo? Has Excessive Discovery Led to Settlement as an Economic and Cultural Imperative?: A Response to Judge Higginbotham and Judge Hornby (pdf)

Judicial Case Management: Caught in the Cross-Fire (pdf)

The Present Plight of the United StatesDistrict Courts: Is the Managerial Judge Part of the Problem or of the Solution? (pdf)

Presentation for the Judicial Management Panel (pdf)

Observations from Those Involved in the Rule Making Process over the Years

Politics and Civil Procedure Rulemaking (pdf)

Perspectives from the Users of the System: Corporate General Counsel, Outside Lawyers, Public, and Governmental Lawyers

Possible Responses to the ACTL/IAALS Report: The Arizona Experience (pdf)

Survey of Arizona Bench and Bar (pdf)

Survey of Oregon Bench and Bar (pdf)

Civil Case Processing in the Oregon Courts (pdf)

What Federal Rulemakers Can Learn from State Procedural Innovations (pdf)

The Necessity of Tradeoffs in a Properly Functioning Civil Procedure System (pdf)

E-Discovery Today: The Fault Lies Not In Our Rules... (pdf)

Pleadings and Dispositive Motions: Fact-Based Pleading, Twombly, Iqbal, Efforts to Decide Cases on the Papers Either at the Beginning of the Process or at the End of the Process

Fact-Based Pleading: A Solution Hidden in Plain Sight (pdf)

Limiting Evasive Discovery: A Proposal for Three Cost-Saving Amendments to the Federal Rules (pdf)

Pleading and Pretrial Motions - What Would Judge Clark Do? (pdf)

Reinvigorating Pleadings (pdf)

Settlement: Is the Litigation Process Structured for Settlement Rather than Trial and Should it Be? Should the Answers Depend on the Complexity of the Case including Whether the Action is a Class Action?

1938 All Over Again? Pre-Trial as Trial in Complex Litigation (pdf)

The Business of the U.S. District Courts (pdf)

Eastern District of Virginia Pretrial Procedures (pdf)

Improving Rule 1: A Master Rule for the Federal Rules (pdf)

Summary Judgment Without Illusions (pdf)