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Reports & Studies

Below is a list of a number of past published studies conducted by the Research Division. Some Center reports are not published or made publicly available due to restrictions in place from the source of the research request. Most research reports can be downloaded and in some instances, a hardcopy publication can be requested. See also Manuals, Monographs, & Guides.

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Managing Appeals in Federal Courts

An anthology of Center reports on handling appeals. The editors selected writings from the twenty-five published and unpublished reports on the topic the Center has supported in the last fifteen years. Eighteen of these reports are reprinted in whole or in part. The editors' introductions to each of the book's five parts provide descriptions or summaries of the reports not reprinted.

Introduction: Robert A. Katzman and Michael Tonry

Part One: Case Management, 13

  • Introduction, by Robert A. Katzman and Michael Tonry, 15
  • An An Evaluation of the Civil Appeals Management Plan: An Experiment in Judicial Administration , by Jerry Goldman, 21
  • A Reevaluation of the Civil Appeals Management Plan, by Anthony Partridge and Allan Lind, 89
  • The Seventh Circuit Preappeal Program: An Evaluation, by Jerry Goldman, 171
  • Administration of Justice in a Large Appellate Court: The Ninth Circuit Innovations Project, by Joe S. Cecil, 207

Part Two: Case Weighting, 293

  • Introduction, Michael Tonry, 295
  • A Summary of the Third Circuit Time Study, by Division of Research, Federal Judicial Center, 299
  • Appellate Court Caseweights, by Division of Research, Federal Judicial Center, 309
  • The Cases of the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit, by Gordon Bermant, Patricia A. Lombard, and Carroll Seron, 337

Part Three: Oral Arguments, Briefs, and Opinions, 389

  • Introduction, by Robert A. Katzman and Michael Tonry, 391
  • Deciding Cases Without Argument: An Examination of Four Courts of Appeals, by Joe S. Cecil and Donna Stienstra, 397
  • Appeals Without Briefs: Evaluation of an Appeals Expediting Program in the Ninth Circuit, by John E. Shapard, 441
  • An Evaluation of Limited Publication in the United States Courts of Appeals: The Price of Reform, by William L. Reynolds and William M. Richman, 455
  • Unpublished Dispositions: Problems of Access and Use in the Courts of Appeals, by Donna Stienstra, 497

Part Four: Administration, 535

  • Introduction, by Robert A. Katzman and Michael Tonry, 537 
  • The Impact of the Circuit Executive Act, by John T. McDermott and Steven Flanders, 543
  • The First Decade of the Circuit Executive Act: An Evaluation, by John W. Macy, Jr., 629
  • Screening Practices and the Use of Para-Judicial Personnel in the U.S. Courts of Appeal: A Study in the Fourth Circuit, by Steven Flanders and Jerry Goldman, 641
  • Operation of the Federal Judicial Councils, by Steven Flanders and John T. McDermott, 657
  • Administering the Federal Judicial Circuits: A Survey of Chief Judges' Approaches and Procedures, by Russell R. Wheeler and Charles W. Nihan, 691

Part Five: Technology, 743

  • Introduction, Michael Tonry, 745
  • The Impact of Word Processing and Electronic Mail on United States Courts of Appeals, by Larry Farmer and J. Michael Greenwood, 749
  • Follow-Up Study of Word Processing and Electronic Mail in the Third Circuit Court of Appeals, by J. Michael Greenwood, 801
 January 1, 1988
Alternative Dispute Resolution in a Bankruptcy Court: The Mediation Program in the Southern District of California

A study of the Southern District of California's bankruptcy mediation program. The authors summarize interviews with twenty-six program participants and analyze the first eighty adversary proceedings to come to mediation. They explain the structure of the program and describe the opinions of judges, mediators, and attorneys as to the program's effectiveness.

 January 1, 1988
Use of Rule 12(b)(6) in Two Federal District Courts

Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 12(b)(6) allows the defense of "failure [of a complaint] to state a claim upon which relief can be granted." The Center conducted the study at the request of the Advisory Committee on Civil Rules of the Judicial Conference of the United States and its reporter, Professor Paul Carrington. After considering the data in the paper at its April 1989 meeting, the Advisory Committee decided not to change Rule 12(b)(6).

 January 1, 1989
The Role of Staff Attorneys and Face-to-Face Conferencing in Non-Argument Decisionmaking: A View from the Tenth Circuit Court of Appeals

Using materials obtained through interviews with the court of appeals' judges and staff attorneys, as well as visiting judges, the authors discuss the procedure used by the court for selecting and deciding cases suitable for disposition without argument. They concluded that staff attorneys' attendance at the decision-making conference and face-to-face discussion among the judges provided substantial benefits for the judges, the staff attorneys, and the efficiency and quality of the nonargument decision-making process.

 January 1, 1989
The Pre-Argument Conference Program in the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals

A study conducted at the court's request to determine if its program met its goals of saving judges' time, lessening case-management burdens, and simplifying issues on appeal. Using a control group method, the study determined that the program was a success--it met its goals and received strong support from the bar.

 January 1, 1990
Court-Annexed Arbitration in Ten District Courts

A statutorily mandated evaluation of the pilot court-annexed mandatory arbitration programs in ten federal district courts. The report examines how well the programs have met various goals, relying primarily on participants' responses to survey questions about fairness and reduction of cost, delay, and court burden. It also addresses how various program features affect goal achievement. The ten programs that are evaluated in this report are Eastern Pennsylvania, Northern California, Middle Florida, Western Michigan, Western Missouri, New Jersey, Western Oklahoma, Eastern New York, Middle North Carolina, and Western Texas.

The report is a companion to the 1994 FJC study Voluntary Arbitration in Eight Federal District Courts.

 January 1, 1990
Report of the Federal Courts Study Committee

The Federal Courts Study Committee was created in 1988 under the Judicial Improvements and Access to Justice Act (Pub. L. No. 100-702, 102 Stat. 4642, 4644) to examine problems and issues facing the federal courts. Appointed by the Chief Justice, the 15-member committee of judges, members of Congress and lawyers made numerous recommendations both to Congress and the federal courts, leading to various statutory and administrative changes. This report to Congress was prepared with the assistance of the Federal Judicial Center.

Availability — Printed copies the Federal Courts Study Committee's Working Papers and Subcommittee Reports are not available for distribution from the Federal Judicial Center. When the Committee issued its final report, and working papers and subcommittee reports, it sent printed copies to federal courts libraries. Please check your court library for local availability of the Committee's materials.

The final Report of the Federal Courts Study Committee was also reprinted at 22 Connecticut Law Review 733 (No. 4, Summer) 1990.

 April 2, 1990
The 1987 District Court Case Time Study: A Brief Description (1990)

In November 1987, the Federal Judicial Center commenced its third major "time study" in the U.S. district courts. Like studies conducted in 1969 and 1979, the purpose of the new study is to develop case "weights" for district court civil and criminal cases.Case weights reflect the difference in average judge time demanded by different types of cases (antitrust cases, for example, have a much higher weight than automobile personal injury cases). Totaling the weights assigned to all cases filed in a district in a particular year yields a measure of the total judicial workload in that district, the district's "weighted filings." Compared to a simple count of the number of cases filed, the weighted filing index is a superior statistical indicator of the burden imposed by a district's caseload.

 August 28, 1990
Judicial Evaluation Pilot Project of the Judicial Conference Committee on the Judicial Branch: A Report to the Committee

The Judicial Conference Committee on the Judicial Branch appointed a subcommittee to study judicial evaluations and make recommendations. The subcommittee chose to initiate a pilot project of voluntary, confidential evaluations with the specific goal of judicial self-improvement. Because of the voluntary nature of the project, subcommittee members agreed that the pilot district would have to be one in which the judges unanimously agreed to participate. The Central District of Illinois was selected because of the concerted interest of the judges. This report is intended to provide useful information to members of the federal judiciary who wish to conduct similar evaluation programs.

 January 1, 1991
A Day in the Life: The Federal Judicial Center's 1988-1989 Bankruptcy Court Time Study

At the request of the Judicial Conference Committee on the Administration of the Bankruptcy System, during fiscal year 1989, the Center surveyed the caseloads of 272 bankruptcy judges (97% of those sitting at the time). The data collected in the survey formed the basis of seventeen case weights, which are the average amounts of time bankruptcy judges spent on the matters that came before them. The Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts uses the case weights to calculate weighted caseloads for each bankruptcy court, and the Judicial Conference uses this information as a major factor in assessing the need for bankruptcy judgeships.

Reprinted from 65 American Bankruptcy Law Journal 491 (1991).

 January 1, 1991

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