The discovery phase is often the most critical component of legal work, leading 95% of civil cases to a settlement negotiation instead of a courtroom trial. Given this, how information is collected from potential witnesses is...more
I. THE USE OF REMOTE PROCEEDINGS IN CIVIL PRACTICE - The COVID-19 pandemic had an enormous impact on civil litigation in Illinois, particularly by increasing the use of remote proceedings in Illinois circuit courts. A....more
The establishment of liability for a car accident can be more complicated than it typically appears. While responding police officers will often issue a citation to one of the drivers, for having caused the accident, law...more
Shortly after a divorce complaint has been responded to by the other party to the case, the case will be scheduled for an initial Case Management Conference (CMC) with the judge who has been assigned to the case. The...more
THE COVID-19 PANDEMIC’S IMPACT ON CIVIL PRACTICE The COVID-19 pandemic has had an enormous impact on civil litigation in Illinois. Since March 2020, the Governor of Illinois and Illinois courts of all levels have...more
The Chief Judge of the United States District Court for the District of Colorado recently denied a plaintiff’s bid to overturn a protective order preventing the plaintiff from taking 30(b)(6) deposition testimony on a...more
In 2019, the Missouri legislature passed Senate Bill 224 (SB 224), effectively revising Missouri’s discovery rules to align them with the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure. (See our 2019 post for analysis of SB 224’s changes...more
Effective Feb. 1, 2021, New York’s Uniform Rules for the Supreme Court and County Court will see sweeping changes. A product of the courts and power delegated by the New York State Constitution, these rules govern the...more
The New York Commercial Division was created in 1993 “to test whether it would be possible, by concentrating on commercial litigation, to improve the efficiency with which such matters were addressed by the court and, at the...more
Under Massachusetts procedure, a party has the right to compel an opponent to disclose its testifying expert’s opinions through interrogatories. But unlike federal procedure, a party under Massachusetts procedure must obtain...more
Aldinger v. Alden State Bank is a good reminder of counsel’s obligation to be cooperative in the discovery process. Aldinger, an employment discrimination case pending in the United States District Court for the Western...more
When your divorce attorney refers to “discovery”, he/she is referring to the exchange of information and documentation relative to all issues in your divorce. Discovery is in the form of the following requests for information...more
The Michigan Supreme Court has adopted proposed changes to several Michigan Court Rules, at the recommendation of the State Bar of Michigan Civil Discovery Rule Review Special Committee. Those changes take effect January 1,...more
As criminal law has expanded into almost every sector of the American economy, one byproduct is the rise of "parallel proceedings"—lawsuits that proceed concurrently in criminal and civil court based on largely the same...more
As outlined in previous posts, the New York Commercial Division seeks to be a forward-thinking forum that adopts rule changes aimed at increasing efficiency and decreasing litigant costs. In August, a revised Model...more
For a long time, practice in New York’s Commercial Division was a double-edged sword. Stacked with the state’s most sophisticated judges, a tilt towards aggressive case management practices, and an inclination towards...more