Evening star., 1948-08-08

The need for additional Judge
cause a good many cases are dis.
posed of by settlement without trial
after the pretrial conference. And
there Is the additional courtroom
space that would be needed If the
cases were not thus winnowed, max.
ing for added expense.
Friendly and Informal
The pretrial, held in one Of the
smaller courtrooms in the District
Court Building, lacks the formality
Of. a regular trial. The pretrial
and assignment justice, as he Is
officially known, takes his seat on
the bench and listens to brief out
lines Of the case. Then Judge and
lawyers hold friendly round.
table discussion, with no stenog-
rapher present to record the pro-
ceedings. They try to thrash 1t out
thinking aloud, so to speak. Wit
nesses and jury are absent. But
sometimes clients sit in with their
counsel. The proceedings here are
public, but in some jurisdictions the
Judge holds pretrial court in his
chambers, where the lawyers may
smoke, adding to the informality.
The nub of pretrial is an effort
to sharpen the issue in civil case
The lawyers agree or. evidence that
may be introduced at the trial with
out the need OF formal proof. This
means that such things as X-rays
doctors bills, maps, charts, photo
graphs, traffic regulations, laws. hos
pital records need not be proven
through the mouths of witnesses
BY agreement, the lawyers eliminate
issues as to which there is no real
contest.
Much time is thus saved by Off
cials who are the custodians Of these
records and who would otherwise
have to 60 to court.
At pretrial. the lawyers on botf
sides often agree to the genuine
ness of documents. This has orl!
one string attached-whether the!
are competent legal evidence at th'
trial. The trial Judge decides that
Case Is Disested
One great virtue OF the pretria
Is that the presiding turist has beer
a trial Judge himself. He knows al
the tricks of the trade. After hear
ing the lawyers expected proof ant
stipulations. the judge is usual!
able to estimate what case. ough
to be worth in dollars and cents, a.
gagged by jury.
And on the basis Of the showing
made before him, he frankly tell!
the lawyers what they can expect
If a lawyer has a weak case, the
Judge does not hesitate to tell him
Often an out t-of-court settlement
Is the result.
II the case Is to go to trial, the
fudge dictates to a typist a digest
OF the case. This in itself requires
no little ability. The lawyers must
listen carefully, for they must In.
itial this paper and are bound by II
at the trial This digest enables
the trial judge to see at a glance
what the case is all about.
The lions share for the credit fol
making the pretrial system work
here goes to Chief Justice Bolitha
j. Laws of District Court. Long
before he became the courts pre-
siding officer, he interested himself
in ways and means Of attaining
better administrator of justice
Pretrial was one method.
Justice Laws made trips to De-
troit, Boston and elsewhere to study
its workings first hand. Presiding
Judge Joseph A. Moynihan OF the
Circuit Courts of Michigan was an
early leader in the pretrial field
Justice Laws sat with him on the
bench in Detroit in those earlier
years, getting the atmosphere oi
pretrial and the realities of its
application.
Started System Here
Thus he was able to come back
to Washington, set up the program
here and successfully apply it
Justice Laws launched the pretrial
program in Washington in October
1899. To insure its success, he
became the first jurist to preside in
pretrial court. This he did with
marked ability.
Patiently he led the lawyer!
through the program. For it tool
perseverance and patience to "edu.
cate" both bench and bar in the
new procedure. Some of the judge.
opposed the plan as new-fangled
But thanks to Justice Laws per-
sistence, pretrial is now a we'll
established procedure at Distric
Court.
Justice Laws success in this fiele
was one of the prime factors tha
led to his selection as chief JUS
tice in 1945.
Justice Laws interest in pre-
trial has not been confined to thu
National Capital. He has been al
apostle for its adoption in the con
gested courts of the land. With hi
old friend, Judge Moynihan, ane
other leading jurists, Justice Law
participated in national pretria
clinic in September, 1914, at Chi
cago. This was sponsored by I
committee of the Judicial Confer
ence of Senior Circuit Judges ant