In this report from the Civil Justice Initiative, the Texas Office of Court Administration, the National Center for State Courts, and IAALS found that rules adopted by the Supreme Court of Texas in 2012 have expedited the resolution of cases—both before and after the pandemic.
The findings conclude that enforcing court rules that require expedited actions can improve fairness, cost, and efficiency in the civil justice system while also relieving case backlogs.
The study notes that the expedited actions rules work particularly well with certain case types, especially contract cases, debt collection, and personal injury cases where only limited discovery is needed.
While this report looks at Texas in particular, the takeaways are broadly applicable to every jurisdiction, with opportunities for more judge and staff training, increased use of technology to assist in civil case management, and stronger enforcement of the rules.
Additional authors:
Paula Hannaford-Agor, NCSC
Lindsey Wylie, NCSC
Miriam Hamilton, NCSC
Jeffrey Tsunekawa, Texas Office of Court Administration
Michael Smith, Texas Office of Court Administration
Sheri Woodfin, Texas Office of Court Administration
