Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1931-01-04
D. c. COURT 0. KS
NEW METHODS TO
END DOCKET JAMS
Innovations Will Follow Ex-
hauStive Inquiry-AppIy
to Civil Cases Only.

The New Year is to see the introduc-
ton in the District Supreme Court Of
new methods of procedure in civil
actions to take the place Of ancient
modes Of trial which have obtained for
more than SO years and have been in
no small degree responsible for the
congested condition of the dockets in
law and equity cases.
The innovations are the result of an
exhaustive study by q representative
committee of lawyers, under the chair
manship of John e. Laskey, former
United States attorney for the District
of Columbia, and including in its per-
sonnet Justice Jesse G.. Adkins and
Frank e. Cunningham, clerk of the
court; Henry P. Blair, ]. Spalding Flan-
Frank F. NeSbit, Daniel w. O'Donoghue,
Charles B. Coffin and Fred G. O'Con-
nell. Prof. Robert A. Maurer of the
Georgetown University Law School
served as secretary.
The committee had correspondence
with II cities, comparable in size to
Washington, and made personal surveys
in Baltimore, Boston, Cleveland, Detroit,
Milwaukee, Minneapolis and st. Paul
by the court and has been adopted, with
the exception of some minor details.
Rules of court to make effective the
proposed changes are expected to be
promulgated early in the new year. The
changes are described as the result of
full and friendly cooperation between
the bench and bar of the District, both
working to simplify and expedite the
business of the courts.
Will Expedite Cases.
The purpose of the changes is to
expedite the handling of cases with the
view of dissipating congestion and con-
serving the time of the justices, litigants,
lawyers and citizens, who are summoned
both for jury duty and as witnesses at
trials. Much criticism in the past has
been aimed at the court because OF the
inconvenience to citizens by requiring
them to attend day after day as wit
nessss throughout protracted trials,
awaiting the call of their cases. The
new methods apply only in civil hear
ings and will not affect the present
order Of procedure in criminal cases or
in condemnation matters.
The outstanding feature OF the COM
mittee's report is the establishment of
Motions and Assignment Court. Here
tofore the justices assigned to law and
equity courts have given over four days
in each week to jury trials and hear
ings and devoted Friday Of each week
to the consideration Of motions. Under
the present procedure on each morning
of the four hearing days much time Of
the courts is consumed in the signing
of formal orders and with applications
for assignment of specific dates for
hearing of the other cases on the call
for the day, with the result that daily
there has been delay before the regu-
lar jury trial or equity hearing could
proceed.
All this delay will be obviated under
the new method, which permits of the
pooling" of the time of five justices
from the opening of court at 10 am.
until the hour of adjournment through
out five trial days. All eX parte APP
plications of every kind will be heard
by the motion justice, who will also
hear motions every day from Monday
to Friday and all petitions or other
interlocutory applications requiring oral
hearing of less than 80 minutes. He
viii also oversee the making up of the
jury panels for the current period. If
a motion will take more than 80 min
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