The Advisory Committee on the Civil Rules convened the first public hearing on the proposed amendments to the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure Nov. 7 in Washington, D.C. More than 40 witnesses gave testimony regarding the suggested changes, with the majority of comments focusing on the proposed language of 26(b) and 37(e). The testimony responding to 26(b) indicated a sharp divide between the plaintiffs’ and the defendants’ bar, while the comments on 37(e) generally spoke to the necessity of preservation language and the definition of vague terms such as “willful.”
The major issues in 26(b) that drew both scrutiny and ...