We previously advised on a proposal by the Commercial Division Advisory’s Council to once again revise the Model Preliminary Conference Order form in order to align the model form with the numerous recent changes to Commercial Division discovery rules. The proposed Model Preliminary Conference Order form has now been adopted for optional use by Commercial Division justices, effective as of August 1, 2016. As previously reported, some of the most salient changes to the new model form include revised sections on pre-answer motion practice (section III), document production (section V.(2)), interrogatories (section V.(3)), depositions (sections V.(4 and (5)), disclosure disputes (section V.(6)) and e-discovery (section V.(8)).

Notably, the model form contains specific references to and descriptions of the discovery rules recently adopted by the Commercial Division that pertain to many of the sections in the form. Moreover, under section VII (“Additional Directives”), all counsel are now required to sign up for the eTrack court notification service.

The adopted Model Preliminary Conference Order form is available here. Although use of the model form continues to be optional, we expect many Commercial Division justices to incorporate all or a substantial portion of the model to their preliminary conference forms. 

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