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Why was discovery a major reform in American civil procedure?

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Mosaic portrait of Emperor Justinian I with a jeweled crown and halo, from the 6th-century Basilica of San Vitale in Ravenna, Italy. — Procedural law Justinian I, detail of a 6th-century mosaic at the Church of San Vitale, Ravenna, Italy.

Discovery was a major reform in American civil procedure because it addressed the historical failure of common-law systems to effectively uncover facts before trial. Previously, parties lacked the tools to compel adversaries to disclose information, which often led to unexpected testimony and surprise revelations during trial.1

The 20th-century reform combined traditions by preserving the concentrated trial while granting parties the power to compel the disclosure of relevant information in advance. The primary goals of this development were to:1

Allow for more thorough case preparation and presentation.1
Encourage pretrial settlement by ensuring parties understand the true value of their claims.1
Expose insubstantial claims early in the proceedings.1
Reduce the element of surprise in litigation.1

By enabling the exchange of information through interrogatories, depositions, and the production of documents, discovery shifted the center of gravity in civil litigation from the trial to the pretrial stage. This model, established by 1938 federal rules, became a defining feature of the American procedural law system.21