Evening star., 1939-12-07
District Courts
Civil Division Sets
Speed Record
1872 Cases Disposed
OF Since Recovering
After Summer Recess

The civil division of District Court
has set a record in disposing OF
nearly one-third of the cases on the
calendar since the court reconvened
following the summer recess, 1t was
disclosed today following an exami-
nation of the docket.
The survey revealed that 832 cases
have been taken of the calendar in
little more than the past two months,
up to the close of business on Mon
day. This compares with a similar
period last year, when 513 cases were
disposed of, setting then high mark
for work in the civil courts, authori-
ties said.
OF the 1872 cases, 307 necessitated
the use Of juries to determine the
issues at stake, while 525 were heard
before Judge alone. Most Of these
comprised divorce cases. The jury
actions, for the most part, involved
damage suits, growing out of trafiic
conditions.
Patent Gases Included.
Included in the number of cases
Just disposed of by the nine jurists
sitting in the civil division were 78
patent cases, involving intricate en-
cheering or chemical or other prob
lens, and some 16 suits arising out
Of affairs in the Veterans Admin
istration.
At present, nine justices are as
signed to the civil side of the court
Chief Justice Alfred A. Wheat, who
devotes most of his time to condem-
nation, extradition, habeas corpus
and uncontested divorce matters,
and Justices Jennings Bailey, Oscar
r. Luhring, Jesse c. Adkins, James
M. Proctor, F. Dickinson Let's, Bo-
ltha j. Laws, T. Alan Goldsborough
and James w. Morris. Justice Proc
tor is sitting in Motions Court, while
Justice Laws is the assignment JUS
tice and presiding In Pre-Trial
Court.
Proctor Signs S31 Orders.
During the past month Justice
Proctor in Motions Court signed 83l
orders, heard orally 230 motions and
dealt with 81 motions that were
submitted by counsel without oral
argument and taken under advise
ment. Three contested adoption
cases and three habeas corpus cases
were heard. This was done during
20 court days during the month.
Onicials pointed out that the same
rate of progress in disposing Of
civil cases is not anticipated in the
immediate future, as some Of the
cases have been settled out of court,
through pre-trial procedure, while
others have been dropped. Pre-
trial procedure-getting down to
the essentials-was adopted in Dis
trict Court the middle of September
and is held responsible, In part, for
the marked reduction in the mass of
civil litigation.
1000 Cases on Calendar.
At the present time there are
some 1000 cases on the civil CAL
endar, which means those at issue
and ready for trial as of July l,
last. No exact figures are available
as to the number of cases on the
entire civil docket of District Court
at this time, as complaints-mostly
divorce actions and damage suits
are mounting daily.
Annually, about $500 civil cases
are now being filed in District Court.
Since the new civil rules became
effective, September is, 1898, up to
today, there had been filed 5,046
complaints. The average number
of cases filed each court day runs
around 20, although on heavy days
this may reach as high as 40 cases.
After preliminary motions are dis
posed of and the case is at issue
1t is calendered, officials explained.