Personal Injury Law

ABA Civil Trial Standards

By John A. Day

The American Bar Association has released four additions to its "Civil Trial Standards."  The new standards addresss these topics:  Use of Tutorials to Assist the Court, Summary Exhibits and Witnesses, Organizing the Complex Case for Trial, and Judicial Involvement with Settlement.

Some of the earlier standards (Juror Notebooks, Juror Questioning of Witnesses, etc.) have found their way into our rules of civil procedure.

From the ABA:  "The Standards fill an important gap. They recommend procedures and otherwise furnish guidance that is not available elsewhere and are designed to foster and ensure a fair trial in both state and federal court. Critics of the jury trial have questioned the ability of jurors to decide complex cases fairly. The procedures recommended in the Civil Trial Practice Standards are particularly useful in complex cases and provide jurors the tools they need to come to fair decisions in all cases."

Here is a report containing all of the standards.

Full post as published by Day on Torts on December 31, 1969 (boomark / email).