Opportunity to Comment on Proposed Change to Commercial Division Rules

The Office of Court Administration has asked for public comment on another proposed change to the rules of the Commercial Division.

The proposed new rule:

provides that if the court's Part Rules address discovery disputes, those Part Rules will govern. If the court's Part Rules are silent with respect to discovery disputes, the following procedures would apply. If counsel are unable to resolve a dispute after consulting in good faith, counsel for the moving party would be required to submit to the court a letter not exceeding three single-spaced pages in length outlining the nature of the dispute and requesting a telephone conference. The opposing party would have four business days to submit a responsive letter, after which the court would schedule a telephone or in-court conference with counsel. The proposal provides that failure to comply with this procedure may result in a motion being held in abeyance until the court has the opportunity to conference the matter. If the parties need to make a record, they would still have the opportunity to submit a formal motion.

E-mail comments to rulecomments@nycourts.gov by November 25, 2014.