Abstract
Congestion in the federal judiciary is so prevalent that it has become an afterthought. From the outset of their introductory Federal Civil Procedure course, most law students learn that any attorney who brings an action in a federal court better be prepared to wait. A recent report by the Federal Judicial Center indicated that the average time between filing and adjudication of issues in federal district courts was approximately two years. It can reasonably be asserted that this length of time is directly proportional to the amount of cases on the federal docket. Therefore, any step to reduce the caseload would likely be a beneficial step toward alleviating the congestion and decreasing the amount of time it takes to try a case in federal court. This Note argues that in deciding Exxon Mobil Corp. v. Allapattah Services Inc., the Supreme Court of the United States may have better served the federal judiciary by reading 28 U.S.C. § 1367's conferral of supplemental jurisdiction narrowly so as to preclude district courts from extending jurisdiction to diversity action plaintiffs whose claims fail to meet the statutorily required minimum amount in controversy.
Recommended Citation
Evan F. Fitts,
Supreme Court Cordially Invited You to Sue in Federal Court: Hope You Don't Mind Waiting, The,
72 Mo. L. Rev.
(2007)
Available at: https://scholarship.law.missouri.edu/mlr/vol72/iss1/13