At the request of the Judicial Conference Committee on Court Administration and Case Management, the Federal Judicial Center conducted a study of the use of courtrooms in the U.S. bankruptcy courts. The study, which was conducted from mid-2008 to late 2010, followed completion of a similar study of courtroom use in the federal district courts, see The Use of Courtrooms in U.S. District Courts (2008). Findings reported in the study are based on data collected in nine bankruptcy courts from September 14, 2009, through December 14, 2009, and in nine other bankruptcy courts from January 18, 2010, through April 16, 2010.

Note: Technical appendices 2 and 6 are forthcoming.

The Judicial Conference Advisory Committee on Civil Rules asked the Federal Judicial Center to study the operation of Rules 16 and 26(f) in the district courts. This report summarizes findings of part of that study. Specifically, this report examines the timing of Rule 16 scheduling orders in civil cases and, drawing from those scheduling orders, also examines the timing of the first discovery cut-off date imposed, without regard to any extension. The data analyzed in this report were drawn from court records in 11 districts.

A report that discusses the possible chilling effects and potential for creating satellite litigation of Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 11 (before the 1993 amendment that increased judges' discretion as to imposing sanctions). It also discusses the nature and adequacy of procedures used to implement the rule. The report is based on interviews with judges and lawyers in eight districts. The author describes his methodology and reports his empirical findings.

A description of the scope of responsibilities of full-time magistrate judges in eighty-two district courts. The report also describes the processes by which magistrate judges are assigned those responsibilities and the frequency with which they are assigned various tasks.