Time: 1:00 to 2:30 pm EST
Webinar on the Proposed Amendments to the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure
In September, the Judicial Conference of the United States approved, without debate, an extensive set of amendments to Rule 1 and Rules 26 through 37 of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, dealing with pretrial case management and discovery. This action was the culmination of more than four years of work, including several conferences, drafts, proposals, public hearings, reworked proposals, and a record 2,300 written comments. The amendments are now before the Supreme Court, which is expected to officially propose them to Congress by May 1, 2015. Unless Congress acts to block adoption of these amendments -- which is not expected -- they will go into effect on December 1, 2015.
One year in advance of that effective date, The Sedona Conference “Voices From the Desert” webinar series is honored to host three of the primary drafters of the proposed amendments. Judge David Campbell, the Chair of the Civil Rules Advisory Committee, will be joined by Judge Paul Grimm, who chaired the subcommittee primarily responsible for addressing proposals related to sanctions; and Judge John Koeltl, who chaired the subcommittee primarily responsible for addressing cooperation, proportionality, and case management issues. The discussion will be moderated by recently-appointed Advisory Committee member Judge Craig Shaffer. The 90-minute panel will explain the amendments, discuss some of the process and thinking that went into the various drafts, and prognosticate on the consequences the amendments may have on day-to-day civil litigation practice.
Topics to be covered in the webinar include:
Is the language added to Rule 1, and the associated Advisory Committee Note regarding cooperation, more than just window dressing?
How will the rearrangement of Rule 26 to move proportionality into the scope of discovery change discovery practice?
Will early Rule 34 requests facilitate more effective Rule 26(f) conferences and discovery planning?
What do the reworded proportionality factors, now found in Rule 26(b)(1), mean in practical terms?
Will courts be more willing to shift discovery costs under Rule 26(c)(1)?
How do the rule amendments address the costs and burdens that many practitioners associate with ESI preservation?
How might some of the high-profile opinions on eDiscovery sanctions be decided differently under the new Rule 37(e)?
Questions and comments
The panel will address as many of your questions and comments regarding the proposed rule amendments as possible during this webinar. To facilitate the panel’s discussion, we invite you to submit your questions and comments by email in advance to the host of The Sedona Conference “Voices From the Desert” webinar series, Kenneth J. Withers, at [email protected].