Discovery and Disclosure Practice, Problems, and Proposals for Change: A Case-based National Survey of Counsel in Closed Federal Civil Cases

The Center prepared this report at the request of the Advisory Committee on Civil Rules to provide an empirical context for the Committee's consideration of the need for change in the discovery rules. Based on responses from nearly 1,200 attorneys nationwide, the report provides a timely assessment of the effects of the 1993 amendments to the discovery rules, including initial disclosure. It also provides information about discovery costs in the context of the overall costs of civil litigation, about problems experienced by attorneys in a sample of recently terminated cases, and about attorneys' preferences for rule revisions and other changes that might improve discovery.