According to the study conducted by Rabner, civil cases can often take upwards of two years to get to a trial date from the initial filing. Most of this delay is due to a long drawn out discovery process. New Jersey has decided to take a unique approach to help expedite the process.
For litigants in certain counties, who meet certain conditions, and who do not wish to opt out of the pilot, lawyers who have disputes during discovery would no longer have to wait for a formal hearing from the judge to have the dispute resolved. If the attorneys cannot work out an agreement without needing help from a judge, the judge has the right to hold an informal hearing quickly and provide a resolution without scheduling something far in advance. Other recommendations include that no more than 2 depositions be taken in “simple” lawsuits (5 for complex) and that parties are given less time to answer interrogatories.
The Institute for Advancement of the American Legal System has done further studies on this issue using data from over 6 states and they have come up with three conclusions:
Although some of these findings seem very simply like common-sense thoughts, it is important to note that these are backed up by the data. By knowing what is really happening within our court system that slows down the process, we can better be prepared to fix the issues and move along our cases in order to get relief to our customers as quickly as possible.
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