Publications

Civil Justice Digest Logo

To order copies of the Civil Justice Digest, please contact our Publications & Awards Coordinator.



Judges' Forum Reports

Judges'Forum Reports are published annually and contain papers presented at the respective Forum for State Appellate Court Judges and comments of judges who attended the Forum.


Available Reports of Forums for State Court Judges


1999 • Controversies Surrounding Discovery and Its Effect on the Courts

Report of the seventh Forum for State Court Judges. The report contains two papers: "Discovery: Facts and Myths" by Dean Robert Gilbert Johnston of the John Marshall School of Law in Chicago, and "Recent Efforts to Change Discovery Rules: Do They Advance the Purposes of Discovery?" by Prof. Paul D. Carrington of Duke University Law School, as well as insights of the judges who attended the Forum.

(05R) $40 View the Papers

1998 • Assaults on the Judiciary: Attacking the "Great Bulward of Public Liberty."

Report of the sixth Forum for State Court Judges. Discussions include threats to judicial independence through politicall motivated attacks on the courts and on individual judges and through legislative action to restrict the courts that may violate constitutional guarantees; and possible responses to these challenges by judges, judicial institutions, the organized bar, and citizen organizations.

(04R) $40 View the Papers

1997 • Scientific Evidence in the Courts: Concepts and Controversies

Report of the fifth Forum for State Court Judges. Discussions include the background of the controversy over scientific evidence; issues; assumptions;, and models in judging scientific disputes; and the applicability of the Daubert decision's "reliability threshold" under state law analogues to Rule 702 of the Federal Rules of Evidence.

(03R) (Out of Print) View the Entire Report

1996 • Possible State Court Responses to the American Law Institute’s Proposed Restatement of Products Liability

Report of the fourth Forum for State Court Judges. Discussions include: the workings of the ALI’s Restatement process; a look at several provisions of the proposed Restatement on products liability and academic responses to them; the relationship of its proposals to the law of negligence and warranty; and possible judicial responses to suggestions that the ALI’s recommendations be adopted by the state courts.

1995 • Preserving Access to Justice: The Effect on State Courts of the Proposed Long Range Plan for Federal Courts

Report of the third Forum for State Court Judges. Discussions include the constitutionality of the Federal courts’ plan to shift caseloads to state courts without adequate funding support, as well as the impact on access to justice of the proposed plan.

1993 • Preserving the Independence of the Judiciary

Report of the second Forum for State Court Judges. Discussions include the impact on judicial independence of two contemporary issues: judicial selection processes, and what resources are available to the judiciary.

1992 • Protecting Individual Rights: The Role of State Constitutionalism

Report of the first Forum for State Court Judges in which more than 100 judges of the state supreme and intermediate appellate courts, lawyers, and academics discussed the renewal of state constitutionalism on the issues of privacy, search and seizure, and speech, among others. Also discussed was the role of the trial bar and academics in this renewal.



Other Publications

Some of these publications are out of print. For questions about availability, please contact the Institute.

Demystifying Punitive Damages in Products Liability Cases

A Survey of a Quarter Century of Trial Verdicts. This landmark study, written by Professor Michael Rustad of Suffolk University Law School with a grant from The Roscoe Pound Institute, traces the pattern of punitive damage awards in U.S. products cases. It tracks all traceable punitive damage verdicts in products liability litigation for the past quarter century, providing empirical data on the relationship between amounts awarded and those actually received.

(07R) $22

Justice Denied: Underfunding of the Courts

Report on 1993 Roundtable, examines the issues surrounding the current funding crisis in American courts, including the role of the government and public perception of the justice system, and the effects of increased crime and drug reform efforts. Moderated by Chief Justice Rosemary Barkett of the Florida Supreme Court.

(10R) $20

Safety of the Blood Supply

Report on Spring, 1991 Roundtable, written by Robert E. Stein, a Washington, DC attorney and Adjunct Professor at Georgetown University Law Center. The report covers topics such as testing for the presence of HIV, and litigation involving blood products and blood banks.

(06R) $20

Injury Prevention in America

Report on 1990 Roundtables, written by Anne Grant, lawyer and former editor of Everyday Law and Trial magazines. Topics: "Farm Safety in America," "Industrial Safety: Preventing Injuries in the Workplace," and "Industrial Diseases in America."

(05R) $20

Health Care and the Law

Report on 1988 Roundtables, written by health policy specialist Michael E. Carbine. Topics: "Hospitals and AIDS: The Legal Issues," "Medicine, Liability and the Law: Expanding the Dialogue," "Developing Flexible Dispute Resolution Mechanisms for the Health Care Field."

(37B) $20

Health Care and the Law II

Report on 1988 Pound Fellows Forum, "Patients, Doctors, Lawyers and Juries," written by John Guinther, award-winning author of The Jury in America. The forum was held at ATLA’s Annual Convention in Kansas City, and was moderated by Professor Arthur Miller of Harvard Law School.

(35B) $20

Health Care and the Law III

Report on 1988-1989 Roundtables, written by health policy specialist Michael E. Carbine. Topics: "Drugs, Medical Devices and Risk: Recommendations for an Ongoing Dialogue," "Health Care Providers and the New Questions of Life and Death," "Medical Providers and the New Era of Assessment and Accountability."

(02R) $20

Reports of the Chief Justice Earl Warren Conferences on Advocacy

1980 • The Penalty of Death (32B) $25

1981 • Church, State and Politics (34B) $25

1982 • Ethics and Government (40B) $25

1983 • The Courts: Separation of Powers (39B) $25

1984 • Product Safety in America (03B) $25

1985 • Dispute Resolution Devices in a Democratic Society (47B) $25

1986 • The American Civil Jury (48B) $25

1989 • Medical Quality and the Law (01R) $25

(Limited quantities remain)