Research, 2004

RESEARCH
The Center conducts empirical and evaluative research on all aspects of federal judicial administration and case management, and most projects are conducted at the request of committees of the Judicial Conference. The results of most of the Center's research are available in print, on its Web sites, or in both formats. In 2004, the Center completed sixteen major research projects; continued work on thirty-eight others; and responded to more than 300 informational requests for research-related assistance from the courts, Judicial Conference committees, state and federal agencies, individuals from academic institutions and associations, and others. Major research activities are described below.

Appellate Courts
Center staff analyzed local rules of the courts of appeals governing the form and content of appellate briefs to help the Advisory Committee on Appellate Rules evaluate potential amendments to Rules 28 and 32. The Center's report describes every local rule or practice that imposes requirements upon briefs and brief covers that are not in the national rules, as well as the history of the local requirements and the extent to which courts enforce them.

At the request of the Standing Committee on the Rules of Practice and Procedure, the Center is studying the possible impact of a rule permitting the citation of unpublished appellate opinions in briefs ﬁled in the courts of appeals.

The Center is updating its 1997 publication on mediation and conferencing programs in the courts of appeals, in response to requests from federal courts of appeals for a detailed description of the mediation and conference programs in each of the circuits.

Civil Litigation
The Center completed three projects for the Advisory Committee on Civil Rules:

a survey of plaintiff and defense attorneys in recently concluded class action cases to determine whether recent U.S. Supreme Court decisions have had any discernible effect on attorneys' decisions to ﬁle class actions in federal court rather than state court;
Spanish-language versions of the illustrative class action notices on the Center's Internet site, which illustrate how lawyers and judges might comply with a December 2003 change to Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 23(c)(2)(B) requiring that class action notices be written in “plain, easily understood language”; and
a report on the incidence of sealed settlement agreements in federal district courts and the circumstances surrounding the sealing of settlement agreements.

Late in 2004 the Civil Rules Committee's chair asked the Center to survey district court judges regarding proposed legislative changes to Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 11. The committee believes the survey data can inform judicial branch and legislative analyses of the proposed changes' likely effects.

Center staff are also helping the Ninth Circuit's Jury Trial Reform Committee to develop an instrument for surveying jurors regarding their experiences in the circuit's district courts.

Courtroom and Litigation Technology
Center staff are monitoring developments in electronic discovery to assist the Discovery Subcommittee of the Advisory Committee on Civil Rules as it considers possible amendments to Rules 16(b), 26(f)(3), 34(a), 37(f), and 45.

Criminal Litigation
For the Advisory Committee on Criminal Rules the Center prepared a comprehensive study of federal district court and state court local rules and practices governing prosecutorial disclosure of information under Brady v. Maryland.

Bankruptcy Courts
The Advisory Committee on Bankruptcy Rules asked the Center to design and conduct a survey of bankruptcy judges regarding mandatory disclosure practices in adversary proceedings. The request came as the committee considered whether certain categories of adversary proceedings should be exempt from the mandatory disclosure requirements of the Federal Rules of Procedure.

The Center published follow-up information from a small conference on Chapter 11 venue that it sponsored at the request of the Committee on the Administration of the Bankruptcy System.

Estimating Judgeship Needs
Working with the Statistics Subcommittee of the Judicial Resources Committee and with Administrative Ofﬁce staff, the Center developed new statistical case weights for the district courts. The new case weights, which the Judicial Conference will use to determine judgeship needs, went into effect in August 2004.

Work continues with the Committee on the Administration of the Bankruptcy System to revise the bankruptcy court case weights. A major source of data for the project will be ﬁve groups of approximately sixty bankruptcy judges, who will report time spent on bankruptcy-related matters over the course of ten-week reporting periods during 2005.

Judicial Conduct and Disability
The Center is providing assistance to the Judicial Conduct and Disability Act Study Committee, which was appointed by the Chief Justice and is chaired by Justice Breyer. The work includes review, by Center and Administrative Ofﬁce researchers, of a stratiﬁed sample of complaints ﬁled in each circuit under 28 U.S.C. § 351 and disposed of during the period 2001-2003.