Letter Submitted on Behalf of American College of Trial Lawyers to Civil Rules Advisory Committee: Proposed Amendment to Rule 30(b)(6)
In his role as Chair of the American College of Trial Lawyers' (ACTL) Federal Civil Procedure Committee, Frank Silvestri submitted to the Civil Rules Advisory Committee a letter on the Proposed Amendment of Rule 30(b)(6). The letter, submitted under Frank Silvestri's name and on behalf of the American College of Trial Lawyers, may be accessed here.
This past November, a subcommittee of the Civil Rules Advisory Committee proposed an amendment to Rule 30(b)(6) that would add the following sentence:
"Before [or promptly after] giving the notice or serving a subpoena, the party must [should] confer [or attempt to confer] with the deponent about the number and description of the matters of examination."
After discussing the proposal, the Civil Rules Advisory Committee concluded that further consideration should be given to the amendment before the proposal is voted on at the committee's upcoming meeting in April 2018.
According to Silvestri, the members of the American College of Trial Lawyers believe that the "Rules, particularly Rules 26 and 37, provide adequate direction to the parties to discuss among themselves issues which arise during discovery, as well as means to resolve discovery disputes." Furthermore, the College stated that adding a mandate for Rule 30(b)96) deposition notices and subpoenas would be "duplicative and create unneeded burdens on the parties."
About the American College of Trial Lawyers: The American College of Trial Lawyers is an invitation only fellowship of exceptional trial lawyers of diverse backgrounds from the United States and Canada. The College maintains and seeks to improve the standards of trial practice, professionalism, ethics, and the administration of justice through education and public statements on important legal issues relating to its mission. The College strongly supports the independence of the judiciary, trial by jury, respect for the rule of law, access to justice, and fair and just representation of all parties to legal proceedings.
