New Jersey law recognizes that the voluntary arbitration of civil disputes is generally favored, subject to certain exceptions. One exception occurs when a party to a contract containing an arbitration waives its right to...more
New court rules went into effect in Massachusetts last month that authorize remote depositions whenever the party noticing the deposition elects that format. A prior proposal to make in-person depositions the default option...more
The rule seems simple enough: Attorneys defending a witness during a deposition may instruct the witness not to answer questions only for the purpose of protecting privileged information. And yet, if the number of trial court...more
No company would relish the prospect of defending against a class action lawsuit and thousands of related individual arbitrations at the same time. But following a recent federal court ruling, Google (and its parent company,...more
A couple of weeks ago, I was in court to help pick a jury in a high-value case. During that early phase of jury selection, the gallery was full to capacity with potential jurors, the counsel and parties were present, the...more
Effective February 3, the US International Trade Commission (ITC) amended its Rules of Practice and Procedure governing Section 337 investigations. While some of these amendments make technical corrections and clarifications,...more
Everything is bigger in Texas. Even pretrial discovery rules, which permit depositions to be taken merely for the purpose of investigating whether a lawsuit should be filed. No state is more permissive when it comes to...more
I remember listening to Justice Frank Cleckley of the West Virginia Supreme Court of Appeals, my professor for Evidence, open his first lecture with a discussion of Federal Rule of Evidence 103. As a young law student, I was...more
The last quarter of 2024 and the beginning of 2025 saw multiple amendments to the Mississippi Rules of Civil Procedure that will impact Mississippi practitioners. The three primary Rule changes are: (1) third-party...more
The start of the new year has brought changes to Florida’s civil practice. In June 2024, the Florida Supreme Court issued proposed amendments to the state’s Rules of Civil Procedure, which we covered here. After the comment...more
Senate Bill 999 has passed the Senate and been reported out of the Civil Subcommittee from the House Courts of Justice Committee. The bill, if passed by the House and signed by the Governor, would have two important...more
Ever had to explain to a client why a sweet win in the lower courts doesn’t necessarily mean that it’s time to dig in and eat? In City of Martinsville, VA v. Express Scripts, a Fourth Circuit majority opinion used a...more
In In re In the Estate of Wegenhoft, an applicant filed an application to probate a will, which contained a no-contest clause. No. 14-23-00350-CV, 2024 Tex. App. LEXIS 5352 (Tex. App.—Houston [14th Dist.] July 30, 2024, no...more
In 2023, a new law went into effect in Minnesota to regulate the use of deep fake technology to influence elections. In 2024, Christopher Kohls, a YouTube personality known as “Mr Reagan,” and Rep. Mary Franson of the...more
Attorneys love rules. And our adversarial legal system functions best when both sides understand and follow common rules. So one Maryland appellate rule has always confounded me because it is routinely construed as meaning...more
2024 was an active year in the class action arena. In this post, our Litigation group in Toronto discusses noteworthy developments over the past twelve months. While our focus is on cases and other developments affecting...more
On January 1, 2025, major changes to the Florida Rules of Civil Procedure took effect, transforming how civil cases are managed, litigated, and resolved. Rooted in four landmark Florida Supreme Court decisions issued in 2024,...more
The Arizona Court of Appeals recently held that in a deposition, a party must answer any relevant, non-harassing question, unless the answer is privileged. Attorneys are on notice that sanctions are fair game if they instruct...more
January 1, 2025, marked a historic day for Florida civil litigation as the much-anticipated sweeping changes to the Florida Rules of Civil Procedure went into effect. These changes will fundamentally change how civil cases...more
One of the ongoing goals of the New York State Office of Court Administration (“OCA”) is to periodically update and refine the jurisdictional criteria for the Commercial Division to ensure that it exclusively handles complex...more
My new favorite judge is The Honorable R. David Proctor, chief U.S. district judge for the Northern District of Alabama. I love his Nov. 26, 2024 order granting an Opposed Motion Extension of Time to respond to a complaint....more
Minnesota Rule of Civil Procedure 30.02 has been amended to expressly authorize parties to conduct depositions via remote technology and require a party seeking to take a deposition to elect between deposing in-person or...more
In Barbiero v Pollack, 2024 ONCA 904 (Barbiero) the Court of Appeal for Ontario upheld the motion judge’s dismissal of a class proceeding for delay under Rule 24.01 of the Rules of Civil Procedure. The plaintiff had not set...more
On January 1, 2025, the Florida Rules of Civil Procedure changed dramatically. The new rules and amendments are designed to enhance efficiency, impact the setting of cases for trial, case management, discovery practice,...more
The rules will come into effect on 1 January 2025, aiming to enhance the overall efficiency and integrity of SIAC’s arbitration proceedings. On 9 December 2024, the Singapore International Arbitration Centre (SIAC)...more