In 1938, the steam locomotive “Mallard” set a world speed record of 126 miles per hour and the ballpoint pen was introduced. That same year, Judge Charles E. Clark and the framers of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure achieved the approval and implementation of revolutionary discovery rules designed to “secure the just, speedy, and inexpensive determination of every action and proceeding.” Fed. R. Civ. P. 1.
During the intervening years, the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure have been revised and their application has evolved to keep pace with the changing demands of courts and litigants, although often not as frequently as some might desire. Nevertheless, the rules have not remained inflexible, and courts have sought to apply them to technological revolutions such as the “modern miracle of photographic reproduction,” which one court noted “lessens what might otherwise be burdensome transportation of records and documents.” Although perhaps not always explicitly articulated, the goal of the rule changes has always been to achieve proportionality between the relief sought and the burdens of litigation.
