Civil Justice Reconsidered: Toward a Less Costly, More Accessible Litigation System

Steven P. Croley

Agu 2017 · NYU Press

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Prosecutes the civil litigation system and proposes practical reforms to increase access to the courts and reduce costs.

Civil litigation has come under fire in recent years. Some critics portray a system of dishonest lawyers and undeserving litigants who prevail too often, and are awarded too much money. Others criticize the civil justice system for being out of reach for many who have suffered real injury. But contrary to these perspectives and popular belief, the civil justice system in the United States is not out of control.

In Civil Justice Reconsidered, Steven Croley demonstrates that civil litigation is, for the most part, socially beneficial. An effective civil litigation system is accessible to parties who have suffered legal wrongs, and it is reliable in the sense that those with stronger claims tend to prevail over those with weaker claims. However, while most of the system’s failures are overstated, they are not wholly off base; civil litigation often imposes excessive costs that, among other unfortunate consequences, impede access to the courts, and Croley offers ways to reform civil litigation in the interest of justice for potential plaintiffs and defendants, and for the rule of law itself.

A better litigation system matters only because of what is at stake for real people, and Civil Justice Reconsidered speaks to the thought leaders, litigation reformers, members of the bar and bench, and policymakers who can answer the call for reforming civil litigation in the United States.

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Steven P. Croley is a partner with Latham & Watkins. He served in President Obama's Administration on the Domestic Policy Council, as Deputy White House Counsel in the Office of White House Counsel, and as the General Counsel of the U.S. Department of Energy. In 2010 he was named the Hutchins Colleagiate Professor of Law at the University of Michigan Law School, where he began his legal career. He previously served as an Assistant U.S. Attorney in the Eastern District of Michigan, and has represented individual clients as well.