Court reformers have focused on the simplification of court structure and jurisdiction, the simplification of court procedures, and professionalization of the judiciary, the unification of court organization, professional administrators, State financing of courts, technological modernization, and judicial independence. The basic assumptions of court reform have been that the courts should be removed from politics, should be organized according to national standards, and should be directed by professionals. The focus has been on structures and procedures rather than substance. The limits of such court reform are in the persistence of political influences and the general inability to reconcile standardization and diversity in court structure and procedure. An appropriate future for court reform might begin by relating it to executive and legislative reform. Court reform has traditionally resembled executive reform, as problems are viewed from the prespective of the central administrator, and solutions emphasize classical perscriptions that rationalize structure and procedures. Court reform has given less emphasis to the traditional staple of legislative reformers, which is the development of autonomous capabilities of the individual decisionmaker. Twenty references are listed.