Decongestion Through Calendar Controls

Abstract

A dedicated group of judges in one of the busiest United States district courts in the country, the Southern Dis trict of New York, has analyzed its own enormous backlog problem with a success that merits the study of other courts in similar straits. A thorough survey of the cases then pending on the trial court calendars startlingly revealed that only a few cases were prepared for immediate trial. In the course of screening the nonjury cases, meetings between the judge and the lawyers and litigants generally resulted in pre-trial settle ments. During the period in which these pre-trial conferences were held most of the calendar backlog was wiped out and docket currency restored. The results achieved, remarkable in themselves, point to several invaluable lessons about the na ture of calendar congestion and the weapons with which it can be combatted. The experience of this district court, located in the business hub of New York with not only one of the larg est dockets in the country but adjudicating some of the most complex and time-consuming cases, promises equivalent suc cess for other congested areas where similar techniques are instituted.—Ed.