Managerial Judges

In growing numbers, federal judges are adopting an increasingly managerial stance. Judges not only adjudicate the merits of issues presented to them by litigants but also meet with parties in chambers to encourage settlement of disputes and to supervise case preparation. As managers, federal judges learn about cases much earlier than they have in the past, and they negotiate with parties about the course, timing, and scope of pretrial activities. When acting as pretrial managers, federal judges typically initiate contact with the parties to a lawsuit. Managerial meetings are usually informal and contrast sharply with the highly stylized structure of the courtroom. Pretrial conferences often occur in chamber where the participants may sit around tables and the judge may wear business dress. The informal judgelitigant contact provides judges with information beyond that traditionally within their ken. Conference topics are wide ranging, the judges' concerns broad. The supposedly rigid structure of evidentiary rules, designed to insulate decision makers from extraneous or impermissible information, is not applied to case management. Managerial judges are not silent auditors of retrospective events told by witnesses; instead, the judges participate in the unfolding of the tales

Business · Law, Economics, and Judicial Systems · Legal and Constitutional Studies · Legal Systems and Judicial Processes

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