ABSTRACT
In this forthcoming chapter to appear in the Research Handbook on Civil Justice edited by Anne Bloom, David Engel, and Richard Jolly for Edward Elgar Publishing, I trace the history of empirical civil justice research (ECJR) from the first decades of the twentieth century through approximately 1990. I identify several distinct periods of research ranging from pre-World War II to key developments after the 1960s – that are largely defined by the development of technologies available for conducting quantitative research: the development of sampling theory, the appearance of mainframe computers, the development of integrated software packages for statistical analysis running on mainframe computers, and the development of desktop computers and software packages that run on those computers. Across the decades one also sees shifts and additions to the topics under study with the earliest research including studies of delay, auto accident claims, divorce, small claims, and court caseload characteristics (docket studies); studies of the processes of civil justice largely began in the 1950s, including work on civil juries and civil procedure. One issue that began to come into prominence in the 1970s was the unmet need for legal assistance to deal with civil justice problems. By the 1980s, one finds prominent research on negotiation and settlement, delay (or ‘pace of litigation’), civil discovery, and motions practice. Notably, through the 1960s, almost all ECJR, other than anthropological studies and routine governmental statistical reports, was to be found in the United States; in the 1960s one begins to see research in other countries and by the early part of the 21st century ECJR had spread to a wide range of countries.
Kritzer, Herbert M, Empirical Research on Civil Justice: A Brief History (November 29, 2023).
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