Several significant amendments to the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure took effect Tuesday. They are probably the most wide-ranging set of changes to the rules in more than 20 years. Here are the key changes.
Scope of Discovery
The amended rules now say that discovery is limited to issues that are: (i) “relevant to any party’s claim or defense” and (ii) “proportional to the needs of the case.” (Rule 26(b)(1)). The familiar language providing that documents and information are discoverable if they are “reasonably calculated to lead to the discovery of admissible evidence” is deleted. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit reaffirmed a broad reading of “reasonably calculated” less than two years ago in Republic of Ecuador v. Hinchee, 741 F.3d 1185 (11th Cir. 2013), so this amendment heralds a sea change.
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