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Civil Justice Reform And The Balkanization Of Federal Civil Procedure, Carl W. Tobias

Law Faculty Publications

The recent civil war ripping apart Yugoslavia is a trenchant reminder of the horrors of balkanization. Without trivializing the Yugoslavian experience, the term balkanization usefully applies to developments in American federal civil procedure that now threaten the continued viability of a uniform, simple system of procedure. Thirty-four federal courts' nascent implementation of the Civil Justice Reform Act (CJRA) of 1990 will exacerbate these developments; indeed, if the remaining sixty districts that must issue civil justice expense and delay reduction plans by December 1993 fail to halt this trend, the Act will further fragment procedure. This article cautions those responsible for …

Should Montana Adopt A Civil Justice Reform Act?, Carl W. Tobias

Law Faculty Publications

Civil justice reform in the federal government has become highly controversial. Each branch of the federal government apparently is vying to outdo the others in the field of civil justice reform. Congress passed the Civil Justice Reform Act of 1990 (CJRA) to reduce expense and delay in federal civil litigation, and the federal judiciary has been implementing that statute since late 1990. In December, 1991, the Montana Federal District Court became one of thirty-four federal districts which issued civil justice expense and delay reduction plans to qualify for designation as Early Implementation District Courts (EIDC) under the CJRA.

During October, …

Judicial Oversight Of Civil Justice Reform, Carl W. Tobias

Law Faculty Publications

Thirty-four Early Implementation District Courts have recently taken steps to implement the Civil Justice Reform Act of 1990 by issuing civil justice plans premised on reports that their advisory groups assembled. An important component of this unprecedented nationwide examination of the condition of the federal trial courts has now moved to the phase in which circuit committees and the Judicial Conference will review the reports and the plans. If the national experiment in reform of the civil justice system is to reduce expense and delay in civil litigation, the circuit committees and the Judicial Conference must completely and carefully evaluate …

The Montana Federal Civil Justice Plan, Carl W. Tobias

Law Faculty Publications

The Montana Federal District Court and thirty-three other federal districts recently took steps to qualify as Early Implementation District Courts (EIDC) under the Civil Justice Reform Act of 1990. The Montana District completed the development of its civil justice expense and delay reduction plan, which also includes numerous proposed amendments of the local rules necessary to implement the plan, before the December 31, 1991 statutory deadline. In the last issue of this journal, I analyzed the work that preceded development of the plan. I examined the efforts of the Advisory Group to Implement the Civil Justice Reform Act of 1990 …