The length and breadth of discovery is the leading cause of protracted litigation. Proving that was the subject of our last discussion, so we don’t need to discuss it again here. Now we need to talk about what to do about it.

To reduce needless complexity in discovery, no rules need to be changed. No new laws need be enacted. The solution is simple. It’s leadership from the courts. Under the federal rules and the rules of most states, judges have broad discretion over discovery. So, the answer is for judges to use that discretion, and here’s a way to do it.