Abstract
In response to a perception that the civil discovery process in Utah is too costly, burdensome, and unnecessarily delays the ultimate resolution of many lawsuits (to say nothing of limiting the access of many people with valid claims to the courts), the Utah Supreme Court Advisory Committee on the Rules of Civil Procedure proposed a series of reforms to the Utah Rules. These rules have been adopted and will become effective November 1, 2011. But many of the reforms contained in the Amended Rules miss the mark. The empirical data suggest that discovery is not a large element of the majority of litigation. When discovery does occur, its drivers are claim characteristics, party numbers, external interests, and other variables that are inherent to the case. Consequently, a structural change such as the new two-track, tiered system is insufficient to address the fundamental factors that impact the scope of discovery. Simple, straightforward cases that will pursue discovery commensurate with the Amended Rules’ Standard Discovery tiers probably would have required similarly limited discovery under the Prior Rules. And complex cases that will require extensive and lengthy discovery (and create the associated costs) in accordance with Extraordinary Discovery under the Amended Rules, would likely have required similarly extensive discovery under the Prior Rules. The two-track, tiered system thus likelydoes little to curb the costs and delays associated with discovery.
Recommended Citation
Therrien, Marc
(2011)
"Talkin’ ‘Bout a Revolution?: Utah Overhauls
Its Rules of Civil Discovery,"
Utah Law Review: Vol. 2011:
No.
2, Article 9.
Available at:
https://dc.law.utah.edu/ulr/vol2011/iss2/9