Justice Delayed?: An Empirical Analysis of Civil Case Disposition Time

Case Western Reserve Law Review, Vol. 50, No. 4, Summer 2000

Posted: 30 Aug 2000

Multiple version iconThere are 2 versions of this paper

Abstract

This article addresses the need to understand better our civil justice system by exploring possible determinants of disposition time for civil cases that reach a jury trial. This study uses one year of civil jury case outcomes from 45 of the nation's 75 most populous counties and identifies locale as one important variable, along with certain case types, results, and party characteristics. An empirically moored understanding of the causes of case disposition time will assist public policy and reform efforts that seek to make civil justice speedier and, as a consequence, more inexpensive and just. Findings from this study call into question the efficacy of recent reform efforts that focus on variables not found to influence civil case disposition time and ignore other variables that exert systematic influence.

Keywords: civil justice, case disposition time, empirical

JEL Classification: K40, K41

Suggested Citation

Heise, Michael, Justice Delayed?: An Empirical Analysis of Civil Case Disposition Time. Case Western Reserve Law Review, Vol. 50, No. 4, Summer 2000, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=237268

Michael Heise (Contact Author)

Cornell Law School ( email )

308 Myron Taylor Hall
Ithaca, NY 14853-4901
United States
607-255-0069 (Phone)
607-255-7193 (Fax)

Do you have negative results from your research you’d like to share?

Paper statistics

Abstract Views
1,450
PlumX Metrics