Richard A. Posner retired as a judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit in 2017. He was previously a senior lecturer at the University of Chicago Law School.

• Preface The Institution The Organization of the Federal Courts The basic structure. The judges. The state courts compared. The Jurisdiction of the Federal Courts The Challenge The Growth of the Caseload Caseload ... versus workload. Caseload and workload in the Supreme Court. The Chicken Little question. Why the Caseload Has Grown So Models of caseload growth. The district courts. The courts of appeals. The Supreme Court. Consequences: The System Expands ... More judges, working harder. The rise of the law clerk. ...And Is Streamlined Curtailment of oral argument. Nonpublication of opinions. The standard of review, the trend toward "ruledness," summariness. Sanctions. Incremental Reform Palliatives Upping the ante. Limiting or abolishing diversity jurisdiction. Better management. Alternative dispute resolution. The reform of the bar. Specialized Courts Specialized Article III courts. Rethinking administrative review. Fundamental Reform The Role of Federal Courts in a Federal System The optimal scope of federal jurisdiction. Specific caseload implications. Federal Judicial Self-Restraint Principled adjudication. The meaning and consequences of judicial activism and self-restraint. The restraint ratchet and other extensions. The Federal Judicial Craft District judges. The institutional responsibilities of federal appellate judges. Rule versus standard again. Stare decisis. Appendix: Supplementary Tables Index

In a revised and substantially improved edition of his classic 1985 book, The Federal Courts: Crisis and Reform, Posner, chief judge of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit, provides an insightful and distinctive examination of the problems and challenges that have arisen from the unprecedented growth in caseload in federal courts...[His] thoughtful analysis is highly recommended.