The comment period for the Superior Court Rules Committee’s proposed amendments to Rules 9A and 9C is open until February 15. While most of the amendments to Rule 9A are merely intended to simplify and reorganize the rule, some would bring more substantive changes. For example, proposed changes to the summary-judgment process include limiting statements of material facts (SOFs) to 20 pages and prohibiting the inclusion of background facts or quotations from contracts, trusts, agreements, statutes, regulations, or rules in SOFs. Background facts, however, would be permitted in a memorandum of law in support of a summary judgment motion, and quotations from the other materials described above could be submitted in an addendum.
The amendments aim to streamline the process of responding to SOFs and would require an opposing party to include any additional facts warranting denial of summary judgment in the opposition memo—not in a separate statement of facts. The proposed amendments also expand Rule 9C’s meet-and-confer obligations, requiring parties to meet and confer before filing any dispositive motions, and set forth clear guidelines for conferring on motions arising under Mass. R. Civ. P. 12, 56, and 41(b)(2).
A copy of the Proposed Amendments can be found here. Comments should be sent to alex.philipson@jud.state.ma.us, or to Alex G. Philipson, Administrative Attorney, Massachusetts Superior Court, Three Pemberton Square, 13th Floor, Boston, MA 02108.
