§42.5 Purpose and Procedure

• Jurisdiction: Washington

§42.5PURPOSE AND PROCEDURE

The purpose of CR 42 is to make explicit a trial court's authority to consolidate all or parts of two or more entire lawsuits in the interest of efficiency or economy when they share common issues of fact or law, and to separate issues in any action or consolidated action for the same reasons. Any party may move for consolidation of actions or separation of issues or claims. CR 42 does not impose a time frame for these motions.

Practice Tip: Although CR 42 does not prescribe time requirements, timing of CR 42 motions can be crucial; the likelihood of success will depend on the particular facts and legal issues and on the procedural posture of the case(s) at the time the motion is heard. For additional considerations on timing, see §42.8, below.

Practice Tip: A timely motion to consolidate or separate may dictate to whom the case will be assigned in those counties, such as King or Pierce, where cases are preassigned to an individual calendar judge. A judge who has been preassigned a case may be more receptive to a motion to separate issues or claims for trial Therefore, if you are considering a motion under CR 42, and you are in a county where cases are not preassigned, you may wish to apply for preassignment under the applicable local rule.

Practice Tip: Carefully evaluate local rules to determine whether the preassigned judge has authority to

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