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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 …