ALI Council member Judge Carolyn Kuhl was the keynote speaker at the Fourth Civil Justice Reform Summit hosted by the Institute for Advancement of the American Legal System. As presiding judge for the Superior Court of the State of California for the County of Los Angeles, Judge Kuhl oversees 550 judges and commissioners, who hear cases of every type, from small claims to coordinated cases with thousands of plaintiffs, from traffic cases to death penalty cases.
Bringing together federal and state court judges, court administrators, attorneys and academics, the goal of the conference was to discuss innovations and lessons learned, and to chart the next steps for creating the just, speedy and inexpensive courts of tomorrow. Judge Kuhl emphasized the importance of differentiated case management, tailoring court processes and procedures to address the needs of a particular case or case type. To better serve the “users” of the legal system, courts should encourage early disclosure or discovery of key facts, early resolution of key legal issues, and management of case activity to create an even playing field. Judge Kuhl also suggested procedural reforms are needed in order to break down barriers to economical representation and effective self-representation.
Judge Kuhl’s speech and PowerPoint presentation.
Several ALI members joined Judge Kuhl at the Summit, participating in various panel discussions. These individuals include:
- Thomas A. Balmer, Supreme Court of Oregon
- John M. Barkett, Shook Hardy & Bacon LLP
- David G. Campbell, U.S. District Court for the District of Arizona
- Jeremy D. Fogel, Federal Judicial Center
- Steven S. Gensler, University of Oklahoma, College of Law (ALI Council)
- Daniel C. Girard, Girard Gibbs LLP
- William C. Hubbard, Nelson Mullins Riley & Scarborough LLP (ALI Council)
- John G. Koeltl, U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York
- Robert L. Levy, University of Minnesota Law School (Life member)
- Lee H. Rosenthal, U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Texas (ALI Officer)
- Stephen D. Susman, Susman Godfrey LLP (Life member)
- Jeffrey S. Sutton, U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit
Bloomberg BNA has featured the Summit in three articles: ‘New Rules Should Foster New Legal Culture,’ ‘Putting Effective Judicial Case Management Into Play,’ and ‘Case Management: It’s in Your Own Interest.’