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SB 224 - This act modifies numerous Supreme Court rules relating to discovery in litigation to become more consistent with the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure. REQUIREMENT OF PROPORTIONALITY The act requires that parties may discover any relevant, non-privileged matter, as described in the act, provided that the matter is proportional to the needs of the case considering several factors described within the act. REQUIREMENT OF REPORTS ON EXPERT WITNESSES The act requires any interrogatory identifying a witness as an expert to be accompanied by a report, prepared and signed by such expert. LIMITS ON INTERROGATORIES AND DEPOSITIONS The act limits the number of written interrogatories that may be served upon a party to 30, including all discrete subparts. For oral or written depositions, leave of court is required if the deponent is confined in prison or the parties have not stipulated to a deposition and: • The deposition would result in more than 10 depositions being taken by the plaintiffs, or by the defendants, or by the third-party defendants; • The deponent has already been deposed in the case; or • The plaintiff seeks a deposition prior to the expiration of 30 days after the service of the summons and petition upon any defendant, except leave is not required if a defendant has served a notice of taking deposition or otherwise sought discovery. The act additionally limits the length of any oral deposition to one day of seven hours, provided that the court may order additional time for any deposition under certain circumstances. The court is permitted to impose sanctions on persons who impede, delay, or otherwise frustrate the fair examination of a deponent. LIMITS ON REQUESTS FOR ADMISSIONS The act limits the number of written requests for admission that may be served upon a party to 30 without leave of the court. However, this limitation shall not apply to requests regarding the genuineness of documents. KATIE O'BRIEN
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