Corporate counsel's guide to the new rules.
Defense Counsel Journal › Vol. 61 Nbr. 2, April 1994
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Summary
It's a Whole New Ball Game: Playing by the New Civil Rules
The new Federal Rules of Civil Procedure of greatest importance for corporate counsel are Rules 11 and 26. The new Rule 26 requires pre-discovery disclosure of relevant material. Discovery requests can, however, be challenged and a discovery impact statement required. This statement should detail why the discovery is necessary, how it will speed dispute resolution and who will be responsible for costs. Defense counsel should routinely ask for discovery impact statements and try to make sure judges balance the costs and benefits of discovery requests to meet the new rules' goal of expedited litigation.See the full content of this document
Extract
Corporate counsel's guide to the new rules.
The new Federal Rules of Civil Procedure are in effect, yet nearly 50 of the 94 federal district courts have either explicitly opted out of the disclosure provisions of new Rule 26(a)(1) or have adopted a local rule that differs from it, while only 32 have put the rule into effect as written.(1)
What are corporate litigation managers, with cases pending throughout the United States, to make of this crazy-quilt of old rules, new rules, deferred rules, local rules and perhaps rules to be? How will they vigorously represent their clients and not inadvertently run afoul of this patchwork? Will ethical questions arise? How will they be resolved? Changes in a Nutshell The changes of most significance involve Rules 11 and 26. These alone could revolutionize civil practice in the United States. Everyone will have to approach civil litigation in the federal courts more cautiously and differently from the past. Prior 1. best of knowledge, information and belief 2. formed after reasonable inquiry...See the full content of this document
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