[Author's Note: Throughout the years, judges have been under enormous pressure to settle cases in order to reduce the bulging inventory of civil cases awaiting trial. In 1986, Chief Judge Sol Wachtler with the deft assistance of then New York County Chief Clerk and Executive Officer of the Supreme Court, New York County Civil Term Jonathan Lippman established what became known as the IAS or Individual Assignment System under which an individual judge would be responsible for a case from beginning (motion practice) to end (trial). It was thought that the efficiencies of having a case overseen by just one judge would help streamline and dispose of more cases than previously under what was known as the Master Calendar System where cases would proceed to different Court Parts depending on the trajectory of the case. The IAS system found its principal focal point in the Supreme Court, New York County although its tentacles extended throughout the state. It was a visionary program of court management but I think it's fair to say it didn't work.