An old argument about the justice system that if counsels are not interested in pushing their cases, the court system should not do so for them. Is its day over. It is clearly the policy of the court and now in pre-note standards and goals that cases be pushed. Could a judge's effectiveness be measured by their success in moving cases ahead quickly, you bet.
All parties involved look to the court to manage and dispose of litigation in an efficient fashion.
If the court does not take responsibility to move a case through the system - the parties will blame the court, regardless of the culpability of counsel. A fundamental principle of effective case management is to ensure adherence to case management orders. It is no good if a court is wonderfully efficient in issuing case management orders but deficient in enforcing them. Not only is efficiency defeated, but the stature of the court and its judges is undermined. Especially in the area of personal injury litigation, an unfortunate tendency has arisen in state court practice in recent decades the tendency of the court not to enforce its own discovery orders.