Complex Litigation Guide (Third Edition)

Author: Guo Xiang
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2005-04-01
Features: For the United States, people are not unfamiliar. As one of the world's most developed countries, the U.S. has always been a focal point of attention. Any person with an interest in law, whether conscious or unconscious, will concern themselves with the U.S. legal system and attempt to find some aspects that can be or adopted by us. However, in an environment where the legal system is completely different from that of the U.S., it is not easy for people to gain a comprehensive understanding of the U.S. legal system. The U.S. legal system is closely linked to its specific historical, political, and social context. Therefore, when studying the U.S. legal system, people first turn to its political history, legal history, and legal philosophy. There are already many works on these topics available domestically. However, once people have a general understanding of the U.S. basic system, they naturally develop an interest in learning about its various specific systems. Generally speaking, there are three ways to understand the U.S. specific systems: the first is to read original U.S. textbooks or theoretical works; the second is to read translated Chinese versions of U.S. textbooks, codes, or theoretical works by renowned U.S. scholars; the third is to read monographs on the U.S. legal system written by Chinese scholars. However, there are currently very few translated Chinese textbooks on the U.S. legal system, especially those on civil procedure. Against this backdrop, we believe it is necessary to translate a book that can both reflect U.S. civil litigation theory and practice. The U.S. is a typical common law country, where litigation plays a crucial role in the perfection and development of the legal system. Therefore, when introducing the U.S. legal system, particularly its civil litigation system, attention should be paid to the attitudes of the judicial practice toward specific systems. Based on this consideration, we chose to translate the judge training manual "Manual for Complex Litigation" from the Federal Judicial Center.
The Federal Judicial Center (FJC) is a research and development agency for the federal courts, established by the U.S. Congress in 1967. Its main tasks include researching the federal judicial system, proposing recommendations for improving the management of federal courts, and conducting educational and training work. Among the FJC's various activities, the New Judges Seminar has been particularly influential, providing newly appointed federal judges with materials to help them quickly familiarize themselves with federal judicial work. The "Manual for Complex Litigation" was compiled by the FJC to train federal judges. In the 1960s, the U.S. saw the emergence of antitrust cases involving electrical equipment, which required judges to manage litigation. To summarize the judges' experiences in handling such cases, the FJC organized the compilation of the "Manual for Complex Litigation" (first edition) in 1969, which focused on the court's control over litigation procedures and the scheduling of discovery and pretrial preparation procedures.
With the development of the U.S. economy, complex litigation cases have gradually become the main part of litigation, and complex litigation procedures have also become the primary methods used by courts. Due to the involvement of numerous witnesses, documents, and extensive discovery in complex litigation, judges need to manage these cases. To facilitate the handling of such cases by federal judges, the FJC compiled the "Manual for Complex Litigation" (second edition) in 1985, building on the experience of the first edition. On one hand, the publication of the second edition indicated that the federal courts had recognized that federal litigation had undergone significant changes in a very short time, with complex litigation becoming the majority of cases. On the other hand, the second edition also provided courts with appropriate management methods and behaviors for handling complex litigation, further promoting the development of complex litigation.
In this practical context, federal judges have developed relatively mature methods and management behaviors, which are referred to as "managerial judges." When the third edition of the "Manual for Complex Litigation" was published in 1995, many previously uncommon litigation methods had become the primary ones, and judges' methods for managing and handling complex litigation had become relatively mature. Therefore, the third edition is a summary of the methods used by federal judges to manage and handle complex litigation, providing judges with a "toolkit" of litigation management methods for handling complex cases.
Before the "Manual for Complex Litigation" was translated into Chinese, there were already some books introducing the U.S. civil litigation system domestically. However, they did not fully help us understand the U.S. civil litigation system. This was because they merely translated legal provisions or provided a general introduction to the U.S. civil litigation system, failing to give us a true understanding of its specific operation. For a country with a developed litigation system, it is unlikely to accurately understand its specific civil litigation system without observing its from the perspective of judicial practice, judges, and lawyers. The "Manual for Complex Litigation" emphasizes specific institutional provisions while also valuing practical judicial operations, significantly filling this gap.
Currently, China is undergoing reforms in civil trial methods. Learning from the judicial practices of developed countries will help improve our civil trial activities. At the same time, with the development of China's economy and social life, complex litigation has also emerged in our judicial practice. However, faced with numerous parties, a large amount of evidence, and complex litigation activities, judges and lawyers have felt a lack of necessary methods and management experience. The "Manual for Complex Litigation" can provide assistance to judges currently handling complex cases and scholars concerned with China's civil judicial reforms. Additionally, by distilling U.S. civil litigation practices, the book helps people better understand U.S. civil litigation theory, making it an important reference for undergraduate and graduate law students studying U.S. civil litigation systems.
Due to the extensive U.S. civil litigation theory and background knowledge covered in the "Manual for Complex Litigation," we consulted a large amount of literature during the translation process, gained a deep understanding of the relevant systems in U.S. civil litigation, and consulted with multiple U.S. scholars. To facilitate reading, we not only considered existing translations of specialized terms but also appended the corresponding English originals to each term for reference. Of course, due to our limited capabilities, errors in the translation are inevitable. We sincerely hope readers will point them out!
This book is deeply grateful to Professor Zhang Weiping of the Law School at Tsinghua University. From selecting this book for translation to its final publication, the encouragement and assistance of the supervisor have been indispensable.