Given the long wait times for patent prosecution, the USPTO had offered several ways to speed the process up*. One of those, Accelerated Examination, offered the option of having the attorney certify much of the examination work in advance.
We used the accelerated examination process several times, and got quite good at it.
The USPTO puts the brakes on the Accelerated Examination program
In one instance we received notice of allowance in less than a month!
Nevertheless, it seems many attorneys did a poor job of searching (intentionally or unintentionally), so the original premise of faster prosecution was faulty.
The USPTO is discontinuing the Accelerated Examination Program.
Track One, or Prioritized Examination, is still an option for speeding up the prosecution process.
* See our FAQ page on Patent Prosecution, under the questions: How can an applicant speed up patent prosecution?
and What was accelerated examination?
The video found in those questions can be seen directly here: FishFAQ 26 Speeding Up Prosecution