Every court has its own rules, but generally there are "Statndards and Goals" that mandate that a case must be resolved within a particular time. Judges are under pressure to make sure that negligence cases are tried or settled by a specific date.
I hope that this helps.
Michael Barasch
Barasch &McGarry
212-385-8000
Answered on Jun 17th, 2016 at 5:07 AM