Federal Judiciary Approves Civil Discovery Rules Changes
From the Legal Times
Federal judiciary officials on Tuesday approved proposed changes to court rules that could reshape how discovery is handled in civil litigation—for better or for worse, depending who you ask.
The Judicial Conference of the United States, the judiciary’s policymaking body, adopted the amendments during its biannual, closed-door meeting on Tuesday. The rules will go to the U.S. Supreme Court for consideration. If the high court approves the changes, they’ll take effect Dec. 1, 2015, unless Congress steps in to oppose the amendments or to make adjustments.
The judiciary received more than 2,000 comments about the proposed changes to the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, which include language aimed at narrowing the scope of pretrial discovery requests to make sure demands are “proportional” to the needs of a particular case.
Proponents say the new rules would help bring down the skyrocketing costs of litigation. Opponents counter that the changes would benefit big business at the expense of plaintiffs with legitimate claims.
In a meeting with reporters following Tuesday’s meeting, Chief Judge William Traxler Jr. of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit declined to discuss in detail the factors that judges would use to decide whether a discovery request was "proportional" under the amended rules. Traxler serves as chairman of the executive committee of the Judicial Conference.
“It’s really hard to try to define with too much exactness,” Traxler said. He said he didn’t know whether the proposed rules would face any opposition in Congress.
Read more in our daily News Update...
From the Legal Times
Federal judiciary officials on Tuesday approved proposed changes to court rules that could reshape how discovery is handled in civil litigation—for better or for worse, depending who you ask.
The Judicial Conference of the United States, the judiciary’s policymaking body, adopted the amendments during its biannual, closed-door meeting on Tuesday. The rules will go to the U.S. Supreme Court for consideration. If the high court approves the changes, they’ll take effect Dec. 1, 2015, unless Congress steps in to oppose the amendments or to make adjustments.
The judiciary received more than 2,000 comments about the proposed changes to the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, which include language aimed at narrowing the scope of pretrial discovery requests to make sure demands are “proportional” to the needs of a particular case.
Proponents say the new rules would help bring down the skyrocketing costs of litigation. Opponents counter that the changes would benefit big business at the expense of plaintiffs with legitimate claims.
In a meeting with reporters following Tuesday’s meeting, Chief Judge William Traxler Jr. of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit declined to discuss in detail the factors that judges would use to decide whether a discovery request was "proportional" under the amended rules. Traxler serves as chairman of the executive committee of the Judicial Conference.
“It’s really hard to try to define with too much exactness,” Traxler said. He said he didn’t know whether the proposed rules would face any opposition in Congress.
Read more in our daily News Update...