Organizations involved in litigation—as well as those navigating their obligation to preserve information for potential litigation—are likely to benefit from the proposed amendments to the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure (FRCP) that should take effect next year.

The Committee on Rules of Practice and Procedure (known as the “Standing Committee”) voted on May 29, 2014, to approve a package of FRCP amendments aimed at reducing the costs and burdens of discovery. The two most important of these are a revision to Rule 26(b)(1), which re-defines the scope of discovery, and a re-write of Rule 37(e), which regulates sanctions for failure to preserve discoverable information. The proposed amendments also include changes to rules 1, 4, 16, 26, 30, 31, 33, 34, and 37.