An examination of the local rules federal district courts have developed in response to the 1983 amendment to Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 16, which calls for increased use of scheduling orders in managing caseloads. An appendix contains sample local rules from fifteen districts.

A description of an innovation applied in the Western District of Washington for mediation of selected civil cases. Under the procedure described in this publication, judges referred cases to attorneys who serve as mediators without compensation, in an attempt to induce settlements.

A report on attorneys' assessments of the pretrial order designed to regulate and limit attorneys' fees during the course of the Continental Illinois Securities Litigation. Counsel for plaintiffs, defendants, corporations, unions, low-income clients, and public-interest groups were asked to compare the guidelines in the Continental Illinois case with their own practices. The author reports their approval of the general approach and details their suggestions for refinement of the order.

A report on the results of research undertaken in response to section 401 of the Federal Courts Improvement Act of 1982, which directs the Judicial Conference of the United States to "experiment with the different methods of recording court proceedings." The study evaluated the performance of audio recording systems placed in twelve courtrooms in ten circuits.