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IAALS hosted a Forum in Denver, Colorado on December 5-6, 2013 for a small group of stakeholders from around the country for the purpose of gathering comments on the proposed federal rules amendments.

IAALS brought together a group of lawyers, academics, and judges for a dialogue about the proposed federal rule amendments, with the goal of identifying areas where there are divergent views and areas of consensus. The Forum included qualified participants with a history of expertise and a stake in the federal civil litigation process, but who have not necessarily had a voice in the rulemaking and comment process to date. The discussion began with background and an overview of the proposed amendments, followed by a facilitated discussion of each of the proposals.

Following the meeting, IAALS has compiled the comments and submitted them to the Civil Rules Advisory Committee for its consideration. The comments include the various divergent views from Forum attendees, as well as areas of consensus. Finally, IAALS has supplemented its comments with available research that may prove useful to the Advisory Committee as it considers the proposed amendments following the comment period.

For more information about the Forum, contact Brittany Kauffman, Director of the Rule One Initiative, at Brittany.Kauffman@du.edu or (303) 871-6619.