Upcoming Amendments to Rules of Civil Procedure

Brian Sunohara has written an article on amendments to the Rules of Civil Procedure, which will be in effect on March 31, 2022. The amendments include:

• Each party must serve and file a certificate of readiness regarding expert reports at least 30 days prior to the pre-trial conference.
• Parties can consent to extend the time to serve expert reports as long as it does not affect the trial date.
• If evidence is only admissible with leave due to a party’s failure to comply with the Rules, the party seeking leave must provide a reasonable explanation for the failure.
• The amendments will give the trial judge greater discretion to refuse to admit evidence in situations of non-compliance with the Rules.  This includes late-served expert reports.
• Pre-trial conferences will take place 30 to 120 days (approximately one to four months) prior to the trial, unless a court order or applicable practice direction provides otherwise.
• If a pre-trial conference is unproductive due to a party’s conduct, costs may be ordered to be paid immediately.