What Will We Lose If the Trial Vanishes?

Burns, Robert

doi:10.2139/ssrn.1851776

Abstract

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What Will We Lose If the Trial Vanishes?

Robert P. Burns

Northwestern University - School of Law

May 24, 2011

Northwestern Public Law Research Paper No. 11-48

Abstract:
The number of trials continues to decline and federal civil trials have almost completely disappeared. This essay attempts to address the significance of this loss, to answer the obvious question, "So what?" It argues against taking a resigned or complacent attitude toward an important problem for our public culture. It presents a short description of the trial's internal structure, recounts different sorts of explanations, and offers an inventory of the kinds of wounds this development would inflict.

Number of Pages in PDF File: 28

Keywords: trials, legal philosophy, civil procedure, evidence

JEL Classification: K10, K19, K40, K49

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Date posted: May 27, 2011

Suggested Citation

Burns, Robert P., What Will We Lose If the Trial Vanishes? (May 24, 2011). Northwestern Public Law Research Paper No. 11-48. Available at SSRN: http://ssrn.com/abstract=1851776 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.1851776

Contact Information

Robert P. Burns (Contact Author)

Northwestern University - School of Law ( email )

375 E. Chicago Ave
Chicago, IL 60611
United States
312-503-6613 (Phone)
312-503-8977 (Fax)