The opening section of papers comments on the need for an augmented program of sociolegal research and presents a literature survey on the role of courts in the United States. Taken as a whole, articles in the second section mark the emergence of the dispute focus as a perspective for studying the civil justice system. They address the issues of how and why this focus was chosen, its problems, and its consequences for research. The presentations reflect a convergence of disciplinary perspectives which approach the establishment of dialog if not an agreed-upon framework for research. Articles in the third section explore (1) the identification of grievances and their transformation into disputes, (2) the transformation of disputes in a variety of institutional contexts, (3) the extension of the data base for those studying the incidence of litigation and the dispute-resolving role of courts, (4) whether or not diversity of citizenship cases should be excluded from the Federal courts, and (5) an institutional perspective of what happens to consumer grievances when they become entangled in bureaucracies. References for each article are presented in a consolidated list and constitute an exhaustive bibliography of recent dispute-processing research. For individual entries, see NCJ-83664-68.