{"id":884347,"date":"2015-10-21T11:58:29","date_gmt":"2015-10-21T17:58:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/?p=884347"},"modified":"2015-10-21T11:58:29","modified_gmt":"2015-10-21T17:58:29","slug":"important-changes-to-the-federal-rules-are-almost-here","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/important-changes-to-the-federal-rules-are-almost-here\/","title":{"rendered":"Important Changes to the Federal Rules are Almost Here"},"content":{"rendered":"

October 13, 2015<\/p>\n

On December 1, 2015, amendments to the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure adopted by the United States Supreme Court will be effective (absent action by Congress).\u00a0 The amendments to the Rules should be duly noted by litigation practitioners as certain of the amended rules appear to represent an increased focus on limiting discovery and even a departure from prior practice.\u00a0 If the intent of these changes are actually followed, these amendments should have an impact not only on securities cases but on any case filed and litigated in federal court.<\/p>\n

One of the most significant changes is the new Rule 26<\/a>(b)(1), which reads:<\/p>\n

(b)\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Discovery Scope and Limits.<\/p>\n

(1)\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Scope in General.\u00a0 Unless otherwise limited by court order, the scope of discovery is as follows: Parties may obtain discovery regarding any nonprivileged matter that is relevant to any party\u2019s claim or defense and proportional to the needs of the case, considering the importance of the issues at stake in the action, the amount in controversy, the parties\u2019 relative access to relevant information, the parties\u2019 resources, the importance of the discovery in resolving the issues, and whether the burden or expense of the proposed discovery outweighs its likely benefit.\u00a0 Information within this scope of discovery need not be admissible in evidence to be discoverable.<\/p>\n

This new language is important because (1) it emphasizes that discovery sought by any party must be\u00a0proportional<\/u>\u00a0to the needs of the case, and (2) it\u00a0eliminates\u00a0<\/u>the prior language of the rule that relevant information need not be admissible so long as it appears \u201creasonably calculated to lead to the discovery of admissible evidence.\u201d<\/p>\n

Proportionality<\/u>.\u00a0 Under the amended provision, there is a renewed focus on the need for proportionality in discovery based on the needs of the case.\u00a0 The Advisory Committee\u2019s notes state that prior amendments to the Rules may have inadvertently \u201csoftened\u201d this requirement, and the amendment \u201crestores the proportionality factors to their original place in defining the scope of discovery.\u201d\u00a0 The Notes add that \u201cthe change does not place on the party seeking discovery the burden of addressing all proportionality considerations,\u201d but neither \u201cis the change intended to permit the opposing party to refuse discovery simply by making a boilerplate objection that it is not proportional.\u201d\u00a0 The Committee advises that the \u201cparties and the court have a collective responsibility to consider the proportionality of all discovery and consider it in resolving discovery disputes.\u201d\u00a0 Finally, the Committee states that the \u201cburden or expense of proposed discovery should be determined in a realistic way.\u00a0 This includes the burden or expense of producing electronically stored information.\u201d\u00a0 Most of these admonitions are not novel concepts for experienced litigators, but the new language highlights the requirements of proportionality and provides more clear authority, language and guidance when litigating discovery disputes over the breadth of discovery.<\/p>\n

Scope of Discovery<\/u>:\u00a0 As noted above, the prior language of Rule 26<\/a>(b)(1) stated that \u201cParties may obtain discovery regarding any nonprivileged matter that is relevant to any party\u2019s claim or defense\u201d but also provided \u201c[r]elevant information need not be admissible at the trial if the discovery appears reasonably calculated to lead to the discovery of admissible evidence.\u201d Under the amended provision, this latter sentence has been eliminated from the text of the rule.\u00a0 The Advisory Committee Notes explain:<\/p>\n

The phrase has been used by some, incorrectly, to define the scope of discovery.\u00a0 As the Committee Note to the 2000 amendments observed, use of the \u201creasonably calculated\u201d phrase to define the scope of discovery \u201cmight swallow any other limitation on the scope of discovery.\u201d\u00a0 The 2000 amendments sought to prevent such misuse by adding the word \u201cRelevant\u201d at the beginning of the sentence, making clear that \u201c\u2018relevant\u2019 means within the scope of discovery as defined in this subdivision . . . .\u201d\u00a0 The \u201creasonably calculated\u201d phrase has continued to create problems, however, and is removed by these amendments.\u00a0 It is replaced by the direct statement that \u201cInformation within this scope of discovery need not be admissible in evidence to be discoverable.\u201d\u00a0 Discovery of nonprivileged information not admissible in evidence remains available so long as it is otherwise within the scope of discovery.<\/p>\n

At this point, it remains to be seen what practical effect this particular change will have on discovery practice and resolution of discovery disputes, but the Notes suggest (and thus a litigant opposing overbroad discovery may argue) that the change to the rule was intended to limit, not broaden, discovery because the prior \u201creasonably calculated\u201d language could be read to \u201cswallow any other limitation on the scope of discovery.\u201d<\/p>\n

There are several other substantive and practical amendments to the Rules, including…<\/p>\n

To finish reading this article<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

October 13, 2015 On December 1, 2015, amendments to the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure adopted by the United States Supreme Court will be effective (absent action by Congress).\u00a0 The amendments to the Rules should be duly noted by litigation practitioners as certain of the amended rules appear to represent an increased focus on limiting… Continue reading Important Changes to the Federal Rules are Almost Here<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[172],"tags":[8877,525,8876],"class_list":["post-884347","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-construction-law-2","tag-discovery-scope","tag-federal-rule-26","tag-federal-rules","entry"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"yoast_head":"\nImportant Changes to the Federal Rules are Almost Here - Advise & Consult, Inc.<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"On December 1, 2015, amendments to the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure adopted by the United States Supreme Court will be effective\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/important-changes-to-the-federal-rules-are-almost-here\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Important Changes to the Federal Rules are Almost Here - Advise & Consult, Inc.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"On December 1, 2015, amendments to the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure adopted by the United States Supreme Court will be effective\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/important-changes-to-the-federal-rules-are-almost-here\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Advise & Consult, Inc.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/Advise-Consult-Inc-126949043996790\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2015-10-21T17:58:29+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@adviseconsult\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@adviseconsult\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/important-changes-to-the-federal-rules-are-almost-here\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/important-changes-to-the-federal-rules-are-almost-here\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"admin\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/0a11abe008083d5fb19c2b0feefe7bd7\"},\"headline\":\"Important Changes to the Federal Rules are Almost Here\",\"datePublished\":\"2015-10-21T17:58:29+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/important-changes-to-the-federal-rules-are-almost-here\/\"},\"wordCount\":777,\"commentCount\":0,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/#organization\"},\"keywords\":[\"Discovery Scope\",\"Federal Rule 26\",\"Federal Rules\"],\"articleSection\":[\"Construction Law\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/important-changes-to-the-federal-rules-are-almost-here\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/important-changes-to-the-federal-rules-are-almost-here\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/important-changes-to-the-federal-rules-are-almost-here\/\",\"name\":\"Important Changes to the Federal Rules are Almost Here - Advise & Consult, Inc.\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2015-10-21T17:58:29+00:00\",\"description\":\"On December 1, 2015, amendments to the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure adopted by the United States Supreme Court will be effective\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/important-changes-to-the-federal-rules-are-almost-here\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/\",\"name\":\"Advise & Consult, Inc.\",\"description\":\"Construction Expert Witnesses\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/#organization\",\"name\":\"Advise & Consult\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/11\/AC-Red-Logo.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/11\/AC-Red-Logo.png\",\"width\":162,\"height\":75,\"caption\":\"Advise & Consult\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/Advise-Consult-Inc-126949043996790\/\",\"https:\/\/x.com\/adviseconsult\",\"https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/company-beta\/204526\/\",\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/user\/MrConstructionExpert\"]},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/0a11abe008083d5fb19c2b0feefe7bd7\",\"name\":\"admin\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/b01e71b7acadd7657af782b7ad1a30cc?s=96&d=mm&r=pg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/b01e71b7acadd7657af782b7ad1a30cc?s=96&d=mm&r=pg\",\"caption\":\"admin\"},\"sameAs\":[\"http:\/\/www.expertwitnessinconstruction.com\"]}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Important Changes to the Federal Rules are Almost Here - Advise & Consult, Inc.","description":"On December 1, 2015, amendments to the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure adopted by the United States Supreme Court will be effective","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/important-changes-to-the-federal-rules-are-almost-here\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Important Changes to the Federal Rules are Almost Here - Advise & Consult, Inc.","og_description":"On December 1, 2015, amendments to the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure adopted by the United States Supreme Court will be effective","og_url":"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/important-changes-to-the-federal-rules-are-almost-here\/","og_site_name":"Advise & Consult, Inc.","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/Advise-Consult-Inc-126949043996790\/","article_published_time":"2015-10-21T17:58:29+00:00","author":"admin","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@adviseconsult","twitter_site":"@adviseconsult","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"admin","Est. reading time":"4 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/important-changes-to-the-federal-rules-are-almost-here\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/important-changes-to-the-federal-rules-are-almost-here\/"},"author":{"name":"admin","@id":"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/0a11abe008083d5fb19c2b0feefe7bd7"},"headline":"Important Changes to the Federal Rules are Almost Here","datePublished":"2015-10-21T17:58:29+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/important-changes-to-the-federal-rules-are-almost-here\/"},"wordCount":777,"commentCount":0,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/#organization"},"keywords":["Discovery Scope","Federal Rule 26","Federal Rules"],"articleSection":["Construction Law"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/important-changes-to-the-federal-rules-are-almost-here\/#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/important-changes-to-the-federal-rules-are-almost-here\/","url":"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/important-changes-to-the-federal-rules-are-almost-here\/","name":"Important Changes to the Federal Rules are Almost Here - Advise & Consult, Inc.","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/#website"},"datePublished":"2015-10-21T17:58:29+00:00","description":"On December 1, 2015, amendments to the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure adopted by the United States Supreme Court will be effective","inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/important-changes-to-the-federal-rules-are-almost-here\/"]}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/","name":"Advise & Consult, Inc.","description":"Construction Expert Witnesses","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/#organization","name":"Advise & Consult","url":"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/11\/AC-Red-Logo.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/11\/AC-Red-Logo.png","width":162,"height":75,"caption":"Advise & Consult"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/Advise-Consult-Inc-126949043996790\/","https:\/\/x.com\/adviseconsult","https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/company-beta\/204526\/","https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/user\/MrConstructionExpert"]},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/0a11abe008083d5fb19c2b0feefe7bd7","name":"admin","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/b01e71b7acadd7657af782b7ad1a30cc?s=96&d=mm&r=pg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/b01e71b7acadd7657af782b7ad1a30cc?s=96&d=mm&r=pg","caption":"admin"},"sameAs":["http:\/\/www.expertwitnessinconstruction.com"]}]}},"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p2ztG6-3I3F","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/884347","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=884347"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/884347\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":884348,"href":"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/884347\/revisions\/884348"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=884347"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=884347"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=884347"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}