Vol. 36, Number 1—January 2004

V. The Federal Judicial Center

The Federal Judicial Center is the federal courts' statutory agency for education and research. In September, Judge Fern M. Smith stepped down after four successful years as Center director and returned to the Northern District of California. The Center's Board, which I chair, selected Judge Barbara J. Rothstein of the Western District of Washington as the Center's ninth director. She assumed her duties in September.

A few highlights of the Center's work in 2003 include:

Civil Litigation

Among its efforts to help judges handle civil litigation fairly and effectively, the Center completed the fourth edition of its Manual for Complex Litigation. An impetus for this new edition was the growing number of claims for damages allegedly caused by defective products, often referred to as "mass torts." I am grateful to Judge Stanley Marcus of Miami, who chaired the Board of Editors that worked with the Center to produce this new edition.

In the same vein, the Center has added to the illustrative class action notices that it has developed at the request of the Judicial Conference's Civil Rules Advisory Committee. Class action notices advise prospective class members about the litigation and their rights in respect to it. The Committee asked the Center to develop illustrative notices to help lawyers comply with a recently imposed requirement in the Civil Rules that notices "concisely and clearly state" information about the action "in plain, easily understood language." The most recent additions include Spanish-language versions of some previously released notices. All are available on the FJC's Web site (www.fjc.gov).

Research performed for the Civil Rules Committee includes an examination of the incidence of sealed settlement agreements in federal district courts and the circumstances surrounding the sealing of settlement agreements. Center researchers are also working with the Committee to develop an amendment to clarify, given current information technology, what constitutes a "document" or "data compilation" subject to discovery under Rule 34. This is an extension of the Center's work on civil discovery of documents stored in electronic, and sometimes inaccessible, formats.

Criminal Litigation

The Center this year reported its positive evaluation of the Judicial Conference pilot program referenced earlier involving public electronic access to documents in criminal cases. In September, the Conference approved continuation of the program, with Center monitoring, until the Conference approves specific guidance for system-wide implementation.

Judgeships and Judges

The Center has under way intensive efforts to develop revised "case weights" for both the federal district and bankruptcy courts. The weights represent the relative burden imposed by different types of cases and are essential for the Judicial Conference's determination of the need for new judgeships in the various districts.

In a related project, the Center is assisting the Judicial Conference's Bankruptcy Committee in developing guidelines, model questionnaires, and alternative approaches that bankruptcy judges can use to obtain interim reviews from attorneys who practice before them regarding their performance in areas that the courts of appeals are to consider, pursuant to statute, in connection with the reappointment of bankruptcy judges who have served their 14-year terms.

Education for Federal Judges and Court Personnel

In 2003, the Center provided orientation and continuing education to at least 13,000 federal judge and support staff participants through 400 national, regional, and local seminars. Over 800 federal defenders, assistant defenders, and their staffs attended five Center programs. FJC programs on the Judicial Branch's television network reached an estimated 17,000 viewers. These, along with publications, Web-based programs, and video and audiocassettes, covered topics as diverse as terrorism and the law, employment discrimination, court managers' legal and financial responsibilities, and probation officer supervision of offenders with mental disorders.

Assistance to Foreign Judiciaries

Center experts participated in several technical assistance projects (funded by other agencies) such as a seminar on distance education for the judicial branch, sponsored by the Russian Academy of Justice in Moscow.

NEXT—VI. The United States Sentencing Commission