Many class actions take several years to litigate. Some may take even longer, because they sit idle for months or—in some cases—decades. In late 2024 and in early 2025, the Ontario Court of Appeal issued two decisions...more
Last month, the Supreme Court of Texas proposed new Texas Rule of Civil Procedure, 201.3, that “would adopt the Uniform Interstate Depositions and Discovery Act,” commonly known as the UIDDA. ...more
Texas and Missouri, two states that have long flirted with the idea of adopting the Uniform Interstate Depositions and Discovery Act, now appear poised to take action sometime this year. ...more
An analysis of Lawton Candle v. BG Personnel LP and Texas Rule of Civil Procedure 108. In a recent case, Lawton Candle v. BG Personnel LP, the Dallas Court of Appeals overturned a default judgment against an Oklahoma LLC...more
In September 2023, Chief Justice Morawetz of the Superior Court of Justice and Attorney General Doug Downey announced an initiative to undertake a comprehensive review of the Ontario Rules of Civil Procedure, with a view to...more
On April 1, 2025, the Civil Rules Review (CRR) Working Group published its Phase 2 Consultation Paper (Paper) outlining its proposed framework for revamping Ontario’s Rules of Civil Procedure (Rules). If implemented, this new...more
The Georgia legislature has passed a sweeping tort reform package aimed at reducing litigation costs, curbing excessive jury awards, and increasing transparency in civil lawsuits in Georgia state and superior courts....more
In the recent case of Bank, et al. v. Lee, the New Jersey Appellate Division addressed a significant procedural issue regarding the timing for parties to file a motion to dismiss pursuant to New Jersey Court Rule 4:6-2(e)....more
Georgia has enacted the most comprehensive tort reform legislation the state has seen in nearly 20 years. Passed during the 2025 Georgia legislative session, the legislation impacts multiple aspects of Georgia tort...more
Jordan v. Lynde, 330 A.3d 817 (Pa. Super. Ct. 2024) - The Pennsylvania Superior Court ruled that the trial court abused its discretion by failing to grant the appellants the 30-day response period required under Pa. R.Civ.P....more
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