Call for Papers - Section on Civil Procedure
Revisiting Discovery
The AALS Section on Civil Procedure will meet during the AALS Annual Meeting in New Orleans, from 10:30 a.m. to 12:15 p.m. on Friday, January 8, 2010. The program is entitled “Revisiting Discovery.” The section seeks 2-3 presenters for this program.
Since the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure were adopted in 1938, discovery has played a central role in the American litigation system. Indeed, for many years, pleading was considered of little importance compared to discovery. But as courts and commentators have focused on the costs of discovery, there have been multiple efforts-—with varying degrees of success—-to rein in discovery. One recent example has been the tightening of pleading standards reflected in Twombly, a tightening which the Court justified in part on the high cost of discovery in complex antitrust actions. In light of Twombly and other developments (including, without limitation, the expansion and cost of e-discovery), the time is right for a renewed focus on the relationship between discovery and other aspects of the litigation system, including pleading and summary judgment.
We invite law teachers and other scholars who have an interest in speaking at this program to submit manuscripts dealing with any aspect of the foregoing topic. A review committee consisting of section members chosen by the executive committee will select two to three papers and will invite the author of each selected paper to make a presentation at the program. The panel may also include one or two persons selected to comment on the topics raised in the papers. Our intention is to place the papers for publication; the identity of the journal is still to be determined.
If you are interested in presenting a paper, please submit a summary of not more than three double-spaced pages by no later than Friday, August 28. In addition to the summary, you may also submit a complete draft of your paper. Please email your submission (in PDF format, if possible) to Patrick Woolley at pwoolley@law.utexas.edu. The Subject line should read “Call For Papers.” Authors of selected papers will be notified by October 1.