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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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Title Datesort ascending
Implementation of Disclosure in United States District Courts, With Specific Attention to Courts' Responses to Selected Amendments to Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 26

Updates the March 28, 1997 report on the federal district courts' responses to the 1993 amendments to FRCP 26. Tables describe courts' local rules, general orders, and CJRA plans by indicating which of five key provisions of Rule 26 are in effect.

 March 30, 1998
Data from Middle Ground Districts (Memorandum)

Memorandum to the Judicial Conference Advisory Committee on Civil Rules identifying two districts, the Northern District of Alabama and the Central District of California, as examples of "the 'middle ground' between current requirements and abolition of disclosure requirements."

 February 23, 1998
Data on Discovery Cutoffs

Memorandum to the Advisory Committee on Civil Rules expanding on earlier report on time limits on discovery. Findings are based on data gathered from a survey of counsel in 1,000 closed civil cases and differed from findings Rand Corp. presented to the committee. The memorandum includes the following two tables:

Table 1: Length of discovery cutoffs

Table 2: Percentage of attorneys who complained that time for discovery was too short by length of discovery cutoffs imposed.

 February 23, 1998
Numerical and Durational Limitations on Discovery Events as Adopted in Federal Local Rules and State Practices

Conducted at the request of Advisory Committee on Civil Rules, the report describes the local rules or practices in all ninety-four federal districts regarding numerical limitations on interrogatories and depositions and durational limits on depositions.

 February 1, 1998
Use of Expert Testimony, Specialized Decision Makers, and Case-Management Innovations in the National Vaccine Compensation Program

A report on the Center's study of the vaccine injury program. The report examines why the program was created, its implementation, the filing and termination rates over its course, and participants' views of the program. The authors also discuss whether the program structure would be appropriate in other types of cases.

 January 1, 1998
Mediation in Bankruptcy, the Federal Judicial Center Survey of Mediation Participants: Report to the Advisory Committee on Bankruptcy Rules of the Judicial Conference of the United States

At its March 1997 meeting, the Advisory Committee on Bankruptcy Rules asked the Federal Judicial Center to undertake this survey to inform the committee's preliminary look at whether there is a need for national bankruptcy rules to govern mediation. The purpose of the survey is to determine the extent and severity of problems that the committee, lawyers, and mediators believe may affect mediation conducted after judicial referral.

 January 1, 1998
Implementing and Evaluating the Chapter 7 Filing Fee Waiver Program: Report to the Committee on the Administration of the Bankruptcy System of the Judicial Conference of the United States

A description of the study the Center undertook at the committee's request to examine the congressionally mandated pilot fee-waiver program in six districts. Under the program, which ran from Oct.1, 1994, through Sept.30, 1997, the $175 filing fee was waived for Chapter 7 debtors unable to pay.

 January 1, 1998
Mass Tort Settlement Class Actions: Five Case Studies

This report by Professor Jay Tidmarsh of Notre Dame Law School examines five cases in which Rule 23 of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure has been used to achieve a settlement of a mass tort controversy. The reason for studying mass tort settlement class actions is simple: Using class actions for this purpose has been, and is, controversial. The mass tort settlement class action was the subject of a significant decision in the last term of the Supreme Court, and it is also the subject of a proposed amendment to Rule 23 that has been under consideration by the Advisory Committee on the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure. There has been considerable debate both about the idea of settlement class actions in general and about the proposed amendment in particular. There have also been a number of case studies or anecdotal descriptions about mass torts in which settlement classes have been used. Thus far, however, the studies and descriptions have been narrowly focused on only one case or on only some of the issues relevant to the propriety of settlement class actions.

 January 1, 1998
Durational Limits on Depositions

Memorandum to the Judicial Conference Subcommittee on Discovery of the Advisory Committee on Civil Rules assisting review of a proposal to limit the length of depositions. Findings were based on data gathered from counsel surveyed on duration of depositions in 1,000 closed civil cases.

 Table 1: Frequency and length (hours) of reported depositions

 Table 2: Frequency of reported depositions by attorney reports that there were “too many depositions"

 Table 3: Reported length of longest deposition by attorney reports that there were “too much time was taken in some or all depositions”

 December 22, 1997
Developing the Federal Judicial Television Network: A Preliminary Report

This report describes the purpose, aspirations, and components of the Federal Judicial Television Network (FJTN), which will reach judges and court staff members with a range of essential educational programs and other communications. The network will use formats that take full advantage of professional television production facilities and skills. The Federal Judicial Center (FJC) aspires to create a network with high-quality production values that provides valuable services to judges and court staff in all categories and provides broadcast quantities sufficient to sustain wide audience interest without disrupting daily courthouse activity.

The network's technical backbone consists of the following:

  • the FJC's two broadcast studios: a fully-equipped, broadcast-quality sound stage and a state-of-the-art, automated instructor-presentation studio with a videoteleconference space;
  • downlinks the Administrative Office (AO) is installing at court locations to reach the majority of judges and staff;
  • transmitter and satellite services leased from existing providers; and
  • a viewer response system, preferably the de facto standard of the existing Government Educational Television Network, which provides the broadest range of feedback possibilities and permits incoming data from viewing sites to be summarized and re-presented graphically to the viewing audience.

The FJC has several years of live broadcast and videotape production experience. The AO and Sentencing Commission also anticipate active use of the net­work. The FJC will provide both with program design and production assistance.

 September 1, 1997

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