{"id":4635,"date":"2003-12-27T20:54:41","date_gmt":"2003-12-28T00:54:41","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blogs.law.harvard.edu\/formerlyknownas\/2003\/12\/27\/are-there-really-too-few-tria"},"modified":"2011-08-05T15:00:34","modified_gmt":"2011-08-05T19:00:34","slug":"are-there-really-too-few-trials","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/archive.blogs.harvard.edu\/ethicalesq\/2003\/12\/27\/are-there-really-too-few-trials\/","title":{"rendered":"Are There Really Too Few Trials?"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><a name=\"a416\"><\/a><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-family: Arial;font-size: x-small\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/cyber.law.harvard.edu\/blogs\/static\/ethicalesq\/dumptruck.gif\" alt=\"dunptruck\" \/> In this season of bliss, it&#8217;s probably good that the public is ignorant\u00a0of the legal profession&#8217;s newest crisis: too <em>few<\/em> trials, a\/k\/a <a href=\"http:\/\/www.abanet.org\/media\/dec03\/120803.html\">Vanishing Trials<\/a>.\u00a0\u00a0 As reported <a href=\"http:\/\/www.abanet.org\/journal\/ereport\/dec19trials.html\">here<\/a>, the ABA&#8217;s Litigation Section held a Symposium on December 12 &#8211; 14 in San Francisco, delving into the reasons for a dramatic decline in the overall number of trials, despite an increase in case filings &#8212; a situation that is &#8220;troubling many litigators.&#8221;\u00a0 (&#8220;Vanishing Trials&#8217; Issue Won&#8217;t Go Away: Conference Seeks Reasons and Solutions for Decrease,&#8221; <em>ABA eJournal<\/em>, by Stephanie Francis Ward, Dec. 19, 2003)<\/span><\/p>\n<div><span style=\"font-family: Arial;font-size: x-small\">A <a href=\"http:\/\/www.abanet.org\/litigation\/taskforces\/cji\/nosearch\/home.html\">study<\/a> by Professor <strong>Marc Galanter<\/strong> was at the center of the Symposium.\u00a0 In the <a href=\"http:\/\/www.abanet.org\/litigation\/taskforces\/cji\/nosearch\/executive.doc\">Executive Summary<\/a>, Prof. Galanter notes that &#8220;A central feature of the common law process (and of popular understanding of it) is shrinking while the legal system is expanding along every other dimension.&#8221;\u00a0 He points out that:<\/span><\/div>\n<ul>\n<li><span style=\"font-size: 12pt;font-family: 'Times New Roman TUR'\"><span style=\"font-family: Arial\"><span style=\"font-size: x-small\">In the federal courts, the percentage of civil cases reaching trial has fallen from 11% in<span> <\/span>1962 to 1.8% in 2002. In spite of a five-fold increase in case terminations, the absolute number of civil trials was 20% lower in 2002 than it was 40 years earlier.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-size: 12pt;font-family: 'Times New Roman TUR'\"><span style=\"font-family: Arial\"><span style=\"font-size: x-small\">As trials diminish we find in their place increases in settlements, in disposition by summary judgment, and in diversion into Alternative Dispute Resolution.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-size: 12pt;font-family: 'Times New Roman TUR'\"><span style=\"font-family: Arial\"><span style=\"font-size: x-small\">The more robust explanations seem to include increases in cost and risk that discourage parties from proceeding to trial, institutional changes in procedure that encourage such avoidance, and a corresponding shift in the ideology of judges, who increasingly view their role as dispute resolvers rather than adjudicators. These may in turn reflect<span> <\/span>fundamental changes in the organization of legal services and the way that legal professionals and parties view the legal process.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p style=\"0in 0in 0pt\" dir=\"ltr\"><span style=\"font-family: Arial\"><span style=\"font-size: x-small\"><span>Galanter acknowledges that &#8220;The consequences of the decline in trials are even more difficult to fathom than its causes,&#8221;\u00a0<span> but he seems to worry that &#8220;<\/span>If most outcomes reflect &#8216;bargaining in the shadow of the law,&#8217;<\/span><span> it appears that the portion of the shadow cast by formal adjudication may be shrinking.&#8221; (semble)<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"0in 0in 0pt\" dir=\"ltr\"><span style=\"font-family: Arial\"><span style=\"font-size: x-small\"><span>Call me biased or a fool, but Galanter&#8217;s numbers and possible explanations make me want to <em>cheer<\/em>, not fret.\u00a0 I spent the majority of my legal career trying to help clients\/consumers move away from the &#8220;justice = trial&#8221; model of our legal system, and toward the increased use of &#8220;alternative&#8221; methods of dispute resolution.\u00a0\u00a0 The ABA&#8217;s own <a href=\"http:\/\/www.abanet.org\/dispute\/home.html\">Section of Dispute Resolution<\/a> is dedicated to that goal, sponsoring over 40 <a href=\"http:\/\/www.abanet.org\/dispute\/committees.html\">committees<\/a> and task forces, with conferences on court-annexed ADR, and programs to help lawyers learn to be &#8220;<a href=\"http:\/\/www.abanet.org\/dispute\/21centuryattorney.html\">problem solvers<\/a>&#8221; &#8212; rather than merely seeking and super-sizing them.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><span style=\"font-family: Arial\"><span style=\"font-size: x-small\"><span><em>Snide Aside<\/em>: I&#8217;m sure that dentists fret about having too few cavities to fill\u00a0since fluoride use became widespread, and some funeral directors are disappointed in the ever-increasing longevity of our population.\u00a0 But, neither of those professions would have the gall to hold symposia on how to reverse such trends. <\/span><\/span><\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p style=\"0in 0in 0pt\" dir=\"ltr\"><span style=\"font-family: Arial\"><span style=\"font-size: x-small\"><span>The legal profession should be helping to remove the misconception that true justice can only be achieved through a trial, rather than finding\u00a0arguments to perpetuate the notion.\u00a0 <span>Too much litigation is a\u00a0curse, even if having too few trials will force some trial lawyers to find other sources of income. <\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"0in 0in 0pt\" dir=\"ltr\"><span style=\"font-family: Arial\"><span style=\"font-size: x-small\"><\/span><\/span> <span style=\"font-family: Arial\"><span style=\"font-size: x-small\"><span>The ABA <a href=\"http:\/\/www.abanet.org\/media\/dec03\/120803.html\">press release<\/a> stated that other papers presented at the Symposium would be available online, but that does not yet appear to be the case.\u00a0\u00a0 Unless and until I see highly convincing evidence that a scarcity of trials is hurting the cause of justice, my gut reaction to litigation and trials can be seen in the following quotes (from <span style=\"font-size: 12pt;font-family: 'Times New Roman TUR'\"><span style=\"font-family: Arial;font-size: x-small\"><em><a href=\"http:\/\/www.nolo.com\/lawstore\/products\/product.cfm\/ObjectID\/5628364E-0B83-4399-A4BA92B65A391DD1\">Poetic Justice<\/a><\/em>,\u00a0edited by Jonathan and Andrew Roth, Nolo Press, 1994):<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-family: Arial\"><span style=\"font-size: x-small\"><br \/>\n<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<blockquote><p><span style=\"font-family: Arial\"><span style=\"font-size: x-small\"><\/span><\/span><span style=\"font-size: 12pt;font-family: 'Times New Roman TUR'\"><span style=\"font-family: Arial\"><span style=\"font-size: x-small\"><span style=\"font-family: Arial;font-size: x-small\"><em>As a litigant, I should dread a lawsuit beyond almost anything else short of sickness and death.<\/em> &#8212; Judge Learned Hand<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><span style=\"font-family: Arial\"><span style=\"font-size: x-small\"><br \/>\n<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"0in 0in 12pt\" dir=\"ltr\"><span style=\"font-size: 12pt;font-family: 'Times New Roman TUR'\"><span style=\"font-family: Arial\"><span style=\"font-size: x-small\"><span style=\"font-family: Arial;font-size: x-small\"><em>The houses of lawyers are roofed with the skins of litigants.<\/em> &#8211; -Welsh proverb<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-family: Arial\"><span style=\"font-size: x-small\"><br \/>\n<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"0in 0in 12pt\" dir=\"ltr\"><span style=\"font-size: 12pt;font-family: 'Times New Roman TUR'\"><span style=\"font-family: Arial\"><span style=\"font-size: x-small\"><span style=\"font-family: Arial;font-size: x-small\"><em>A lawsuit is a fruit-tree planted in a lawyer&#8217;s garden.<\/em> &#8212; Italian proverb<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-family: Arial\"><span style=\"font-size: x-small\"><br \/>\n<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"0in 0in 12pt\" dir=\"ltr\"><span style=\"font-size: 12pt;font-family: 'Times New Roman TUR'\"><span style=\"font-family: Arial\"><span style=\"font-size: x-small\"><span style=\"font-family: Arial;font-size: x-small\"><em>The lawyer&#8217;s prayer: God grant that disputes may arise that I may live.<\/em> &#8212; Spanish proverb<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-family: Arial\"><span style=\"font-size: x-small\"><br \/>\n<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"0in 0in 12pt\" dir=\"ltr\"><span style=\"font-size: 12pt;font-family: 'Times New Roman TUR'\"><span style=\"font-family: Arial\"><span style=\"font-size: x-small\"><span style=\"font-family: Arial;font-size: x-small\"><em>May you have a lawsuit in which you know you are right.<\/em> &#8212; Spanish Gypsy curse<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-family: Arial\"><span style=\"font-size: x-small\"><br \/>\n<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"0in 0in 12pt\" dir=\"ltr\"><span style=\"font-size: 12pt;font-family: 'Times New Roman TUR'\"><span style=\"font-family: Arial\"><span style=\"font-size: x-small\"><span style=\"font-family: Arial;font-size: x-small\"><em>Discourage litigation.\u00a0 Persuade your neighbors to compromise whenever you can.\u00a0 Point out to them how the nominal winner is often a real loser in fees, expenses and waste of time.<\/em> &#8212; Abraham Lincoln<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>In this season of bliss, it&#8217;s probably good that the public is ignorant\u00a0of the legal profession&#8217;s newest crisis: too few trials, a\/k\/a Vanishing Trials.\u00a0\u00a0 As reported here, the ABA&#8217;s Litigation Section held a Symposium on December 12 &#8211; 14 in San Francisco, delving into the reasons for a dramatic decline in the overall number of [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":94,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[2926],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4635","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-pre-06-2006"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p6kP1R-1cL","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/archive.blogs.harvard.edu\/ethicalesq\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4635","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/archive.blogs.harvard.edu\/ethicalesq\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/archive.blogs.harvard.edu\/ethicalesq\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/archive.blogs.harvard.edu\/ethicalesq\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/94"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/archive.blogs.harvard.edu\/ethicalesq\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4635"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/archive.blogs.harvard.edu\/ethicalesq\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4635\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":14079,"href":"https:\/\/archive.blogs.harvard.edu\/ethicalesq\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4635\/revisions\/14079"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/archive.blogs.harvard.edu\/ethicalesq\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4635"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/archive.blogs.harvard.edu\/ethicalesq\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4635"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/archive.blogs.harvard.edu\/ethicalesq\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4635"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}