A study conducted by the Center to provide the Judicial Conference's Advisory Committee on Civil Rules with systematic, empirical information about how Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 23 operates. The study addressed many questions about the day-to-day administration of Rule 23 in the types of class actions that are ordinarily filed in the federal courts. The report presents empirical data on all class actions terminated between July 1, 1992, and June 30, 1994, in four federal district courts, and it discusses many of the issues in the continuing debate about class actions.

Note: A version of this report was published at 71 New York University Law Review 74, n. 1-2, April-May 1996, under the title An Empirical Analysis of Rule 23 to Address the Rulemaking Challenges.