§472 Development and Implementation of a Civil Justice Expense and Delay Reduction Plan

Summary

District courts must develop or pick a plan to cut civil-case costs and delays only after they consider advice from an advisory group appointed under section 478. The advisory group must write a report and make it public. The report must say why the group recommends making a local plan or using a model plan, list the measures, rules, and programs it suggests, explain how the suggested plan meets section 473, and include an assessment of the court’s caseload (see next paragraph). The group must quickly check the condition of civil and criminal dockets, spot filing trends and resource demands, find main causes of cost and delay (including procedures and how lawyers and parties act), and look at how new laws affect costs and delays. The group must consider the court’s and litigants’ needs and include meaningful actions for the court, the parties, and their lawyers to reduce cost and delay. The chief judge must send the final plan and the report to the Director of the Administrative Office of the United States Courts, the circuit’s judicial council, and the chief judges of the other district courts in that circuit.