The Sixth Edition provides a summary, yet thorough, survey of all the topics regularly included in civil procedure courses. Since the last edition, there have been dramatic if mystifying changes in the law of pleading, which the authors reckon with in a completely revised chapter. Pretrial proceedings, including such matters as case management and Alternative Dispute Resolution, now occupy a chapter of their own, reflecting their decisive importance for most cases. Discovery and summary judgment are likewise treated in their own chapters. Subjects such as e-discovery, class actions, and transnational litigation have required special treatment. And over the years the authors have supplemented the historical perspectives of the first edition with insights drawn from economics, empirical research and comparative law, while removing material no longer relevant.