States Weighing Rule Changes for Depositions

Summer is over and court administrators are back at work, churning out proposals for streamlining litigation and increasing the constructive use of remote technologies to handle judicial business. This blog post identifies four state courts that recently proposed new rules affecting, either directly or indirectly, the way depositions are conducted in their jurisdictions. No More…

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The Trial Is Over, So Why Schedule a Deposition?

Depositions are a potent pretrial discovery and trial preparation tool. They allow parties to gather information regarding any non-privileged matter that is relevant to a party’s claim or defense. Through depositions, litigators are able to evaluate the credibility of potential witnesses, authenticate key documents, gain admissions that might narrow the scope of issues to be…

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Litigation Is Starting to Resemble Reality TV

Ever since the ABA advanced the principle that “competent representation” includes the duty of technology competence, lawyers have developed an understanding of the many ways in which technology affects law practice and the interests of clients. Certainly, vigilance on cybersecurity matters falls within a modern lawyer’s expected professional competence. As does taking care with the…

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New York Courts Weigh Improvements to Pretrial Conferences

In theory, pretrial conferences streamline litigation by setting discovery deadlines and encouraging parties to take a hard look at all relevant issues in the case and, if possible, reach a settlement before trial. In practice, however, pretrial conferences often fall short of this ideal. They can be go-through-the-motions affairs conducted by lower-level associates who are…

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