Civil Changes: A Need to Wait and Hope

In its September 24 issue, LawWeek Colorado discusses the problems with the current civil justice system and the ongoing efforts by states to facilitate “just, speedy and inexpensive” litigation. Referencing dialogue from IAALS’ Third Civil Justice Reform Summit, the article describes the states' implementation of civil procedure pilot projects, which are intended to improve state systems by limiting discovery proportionally to what is needed.

Under the pilot projects, states have modified their civil rules in various ways—such as imposing firm disclosure deadlines, restricting expert witness use, limiting when a motion can stay a case, or requiring that one judge preside over the entirety of a lawsuit. Though it is too early to tell what long-term impacts these efforts will have on the litigation process, the article maintains that "[h]opes for the changes are high."