Opportunity to Comment on Two Proposed Changes to Commercial Division Rules

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

The first proposed new rule would

amend[]. . . Commercial Division Rule 3 formally recognizing summary jury trials as an available ADR mechanism. . . . Presently, six of ten Commercial Division locations employ summary jury trials pursuant to local rules. . . . Summary jury trials are undertaken with the parties' consent and generally involve a one-day jury trial with relaxed rules of evidence, limited time for jury selection and opening statements and summations, a limited number of live witnesses, and waivers of appeals and motions for directed verdicts.

The second proposed new rule would

amend[] Commercial Division Rule 6 requiring use of bookmarks in electronically-submitted memoranda of law, affidavits and affirmations listing document contents and facilitating easy navigation. A bookmark is an electronic functionality built into PDF documents that provides a listing of document contents and enables readers to navigate within documents and exhibits by clicking on the bookmark.

E-mail comments on these proposals to rulecomments@nycourts.gov by September 10, 2015.