In re Estate of Gerdes

From time immemorial it is probable that nothing has brought such disrepute in the minds of laymen upon the law and lawyers as the all-too-frequent slowness in judicial procedures. Shakespeare recognized this condition; in Hamlet's soliloquy he classes ""the law's delay"" as one of the major trials of life, only to be borne because it seems better to ""bear those ills we have than fly to others that we know not of."" We must concede that the criticism is sometimes just. It places the law at a disadvantage before the court of public opinion. Its validity is recognized by the bench and bar generally, and constant efforts have been made for many years past to speed up the trial of cases and to simplify procedures so that prompt decisions will be made. Justice delayed is often justice denied, and with this thought in mind the courts, bar associations and legislative bodies have for many years past sought better means of giving litigants not only justice, but expeditious justice. One of the major reasons for the enactment of the Iowa Rules of Civil Procedure, which went into effect on July 4, 1943, [244 Iowa Page 334]