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http://law.duke.edu/news/duke-lends-name-amendment-proposals-federal-rules-civil-procedure/

Duke lends name to amendment proposals for Federal Rules of Civil Procedure

August 22, 2013

Duke Law News

Duke has lent its name to a package of proposed amendments to the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, which will profoundly affect litigation practice.

The “Duke Rules Package” was released by the Committee on Rules of Practice and Procedure of the Judicial Conference of the United States earlier this month; the proposals are now open to public comment for a six-month period that will end on Feb. 15, 2014. These amendments to the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, proposed by the Advisory Committee on Civil Rules, will take effect on Dec. 1, 2015, subject to Supreme Court approval and inaction by Congress.

The Duke Rules Package has its inception at a Civil Rules Committee blue-ribbon conference held at Duke Law in May 2010, which focused on the high costs of civil litigation, particularly discovery, and examined ways to improve the system. Attended by almost 100 lawyers, judges, and academics, the conference was intended to facilitate changes that would further the goals of the Civil Rules: “to secure the just, speedy, and inexpensive determination of every action and proceeding.”

The Duke Rules Package focuses specifically on changes to discovery rules, said John Rabiej, director of the Duke Center for Judicial Studies, who facilitated the conference during his 20-year tenure as head of the office supporting the Judicial Conference Rules Committee. Key proposals redefine the scope of discovery, limit the allowable number of depositions and interrogatories, and significantly restrict sanctions for discovery spoliation for negligent failure to preserve evidence, particularly electronically stored information said Rabiej, an expert on electronic discovery.


Comments on the proposed rule amendments can be submitted here. The Civil Rules Committee, said Rabiej, will give serious consideration to every comment.


“At Duke Law School we have a tradition of being involved with the Rules Committee and with law reform,” said Dean David F. Levi, who is a member and former chair of the Standing Committee on the Rules of Practice and Procedure, and a former chair of the Civil Rules Advisory Committee. “How fitting that this new package of reform proposals is known as the Duke Rules Package.”

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“How fitting that this new package of reform proposals is known as the Duke Rules Package.”

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http://www.uscourts.gov/uscourts/rules/preliminary-draft-proposed-amendments.pdf

The 2010 Duke Conference bristled with ideas for reducing cost and delay in civil
litigation, including many that seem suitable subjects for incorporation in the rules.




Proportionality in discovery, [meaning, LESS testimony, and FEWER witnesses; there may be a point to this, but nothing associated with the name of Duke should be attached to it, imho]
cooperation among lawyers, and early and active judicial case management are highly valued and, at times, missing in action.

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The 2010 Duke Conference bristled with ideas for reducing cost and delay in civil
litigation, including many that seem suitable subjects for incorporation in the rules.