Proposed Federal Rule Amendments Move One Step Closer to Implementation

At its meeting last week, the Judicial Conference's Committee on Rules of Practice and Procedure (the “Standing Committee”) approved the proposed amendments to the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, as recommended by the Advisory Committee on Rules of Civil Procedure. As reported last week, this is another important step forward in the long process of adopting the revisions.

The approved amendments will be reviewed by the Judicial Conference of the United States and, if approved, will move to the U.S. Supreme Court for a review and vote before May 1, 2015. From there, the proposals will become effective December 1, 2015, unless Congress rejects, modifies, or defers them in the interim. The Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts provides this useful overview of the rulemaking process for those who are interested. In addition, Thomas Allman has penned this summary of last week's Standing Committee meeting, noting that the “Standing Committee members were effusive in their praise for the open, transparent process that the Rules Committee and its two subcommittees have followed after the 2010 Civil Litigation Conference, held at Duke University's law school.”