These webpages were created by the Federal Judicial Center for reference and research purposes.

CURATED RESOURCES

• Cardone Recommendation Study
  This website provides information about a recent FJC study of the implementation of the interim recommendations made in the Report of the Ad Hoc Committee to Review the Criminal Justice Act Program (commonly called the Cardone Report).
• Civics Education and Outreach
  This website shows public-outreach and civics-education efforts by individual federal courts as well as materials prepared by the Center and the Administrative Office. The curated resources educate the public about the role, structure, function, and operation of the federal courts. Courts developing resources can learn from the website what other courts have done. The site includes an interactive map showing which courts provide which resources.
• Election Litigation
  Our materials on election litigation include case studies of how federal judges have handled emergency cases and legal guides on selected voting-rights statutes.
• Federal and State Court Cooperation
  Cooperation between state and federal courts enables more efficient use of time and resources for both courts. State-federal judicial councils allow judges and administrators to work together to achieve these goals, establishing an arrangement that can also be used down the road, as new issues arise. This curated collection of resources provides information on how to use state-federal judicial councils, and it also identifies opportunities for courts to work more informally to improve cooperation and judicial relationships so that potential problems can be addressed more efficiently.
• Illustrative Forms of Class-Action Notices
  At the request of the Subcommittee on Class Actions of the U.S. judicial branch’s Advisory Committee on the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, the Federal Judicial Center developed illustrative notices of proposed class-action certification and settlement.
• Managing Capital Cases
  The Center has assembled resources to assist judges assigned capital cases, either federal death-penalty prosecutions or capital habeas cases. Included are resource guides describing practices and procedures used by courts and by individual judges.
• National Security Cases
  National security cases often pose unusual and challenging case-management issues for the courts. Terrorism prosecutions and espionage prosecutions are examples of national security criminal cases. National security can be a factor in civil cases as well, such as challenges to some government actions or programs and suits filed to enforce the Freedom of Information Act.
• Rules of Practice and Procedure
  The Federal Judicial Center offers many educational resources on the Federal Rules of Practice and Procedure: Appellate Procedure, Bankruptcy Procedure, Civil Procedure, Criminal Procedure, and Evidence. In addition, the Center’s Research Division has long provided the Judicial Conference’s rules committees with empirical and analytical research reports that inform the committees’ policy considerations.
• Science Resources
  The Center provides resources related to scientific information and methods for federal judges. These resources may aid in judges’ assessment of scientific evidence and their understanding of scientific issues related to court administration and case management.
• Third-Party Litigation Financing
  Third-party litigation financing refers to the practice of contracting as a litigant to obtain financial assistance from third-party funders in exchange for an interest in the potential recovery. This webpage provides publications and other resources that may be helpful to judges when encountering related issues.

OTHER PAGES

• Covid-19 and the Federal Judiciary: Research Resources (2024)
  Dashboards, reports, and topical webpages produced by the Federal Judicial Center address or track the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on the federal courts and districts.
• Recent Amendments to the Federal Rules of Practice and Procedure (2023)
  Information about amendments to the Federal Rules of Practice and Procedure.
• Mandatory Initial Discovery Pilot Project (2022)
  Beginning as early as May 1, 2017, two districts participated in a pilot project known as the “Mandatory Initial Discovery Pilot Project,” which studied whether requiring parties in civil cases to respond to a series of standard discovery requests before undertaking other discovery would reduce the cost and delay of civil litigation.
• Technology in Litigation (2019)
  We are in an era of rapidly changing technology. More and more, judges are called upon to understand developments in areas such as surveillance technology, cloud computing, and cybercrime. Presented here are resources that the Federal Judicial Center developed on this important topic.
• Civil Justice Reform Act of 1990 (2018)
  This collection documents the federal judiciary’s implementation of the Civil Justice Reform Act of 1990.
• Expedited Procedures Pilot Project (2017)
  This is a pilot project that was planned but that did not occur, for lack of participation.