A partner of ours is fond of saying, "Litigation is the blood sport of the wealthy." As California state trial courts are increasingly absorbed with criminal matters, complex civil litigation is increasingly delayed, due, in part, to the length of time complex trials consume as well as the lack of ever-decreasing court resources. Alternative dispute resolution, particularly formal arbitration, designed to provide an
easier and quicker way to resolve controversies, is often now as time-consuming and costly a process as complex litigation in court. Federal courts have developed special rules for complex litigation, and both Los Angeles and San Francisco Superior Courts have complex litigation departments, but many state
courts still grapple with a large mix of the complex and the mundane.
Perhaps a partial solution to the seemingly inevitable blood sport of complex civil litigation can be found in the rules of practice and procedure of administrative agencies.
Read the article here.