The Civil Justice Reform Act of 1990 and the 1993 Amendments to the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure: Can Systematic Ills Afflicting the Federal Courts Be Remedied by Local Rules?

Authors

Edward D. Cavanagh

Publication Date

1993

Document Type

Article

Abstract

(Excerpt)

This Article examines and analyzes (1) the wisdom of addressing pervasive problems in the federal civil practice system through local rules and (2) the likely combined impact of the CJRA and the 1993 Amendments on litigation in the federal courts. As discussed below, the plans to be implemented in each district pursuant to the CJRA will engraft yet another layer of local rules on top of a system that is already saturated with rules. Plans currently in effect in some districts have already generated much confusion and uncertainty among members of both the bench and bar. The confusion and uncertainty are heightened by the overlay of the 1993 Amendments, which in some instances provide standards at variance with those embodied in CJRA plans. This collision of two different regulatory schemes threatens to impair any meaningful procedural reform in the federal litigation system for years to come.