Oakland Business Court announces amendments to several court forms
The Oakland County Business Court has introduced amendments to the following court forms: Business Court Case Management Protocol; ?Notice and Order to Appear; ?Scheduling Order; and Model Protective Order.
It is anticipated the new forms will be ready by February 1, according to court officials. Judges Wendy Potts and James Alexander preside over the Oakland County Business Court, which began operations in June 2013.
Amendments to the Business Court Case Management Protocol include, but are not limited to, the adoption of the Protocol – subject to any mutually agreeable alternative procedures – as a Court Order for the governance of all business court cases, the expansion of topics to be discussed at the Case Management Conference, notification concerning the preservation of documents and proportionality in discovery, the basis for initial disclosures as well as a broader scope of information and documents qualifying as initial disclosures. ?
The Notice and Order to Appear for the Case Management Conference has been amended to require the parties to disclose both the relief sought and a good faith estimate of the damages for all claims and counterclaims. Next, the parties will be expected to discuss the type of discovery sought, as well as the status of initial disclosures required by the Case Management Protocol. With respect to facilitation, the Court will anticipate that the parties have identified a mutually-agreeable facilitator prior to the Case Management Conference.
Attached to the Notice and Order to Appear will be the Business Court Case Management Protocol and the Model Protective Order. The Notice and Order to Appear references both documents and notifies the parties that the Protocol shall be adopted as a Court Order, subject to objections by either party. Further, the parties will be expected to communicate to the Court whether they stipulate to the entry of the Model Protective Order.
The Scheduling Order has been amended to include the requirement of initial disclosures and to eliminate the “heard by” date in relation to dispositive motions. In addition, the Scheduling Order has been amended to require that motions in limine must be filed and heard no later than three weeks before trial. The Scheduling Order also provides for the adoption of the Model Protective Order and the incorporation of the Business Court Case Management Protocol as an Order of the Court. ?
Finally, the Model Protective Order has been amended to provide for the maintenance and retention of files containing materials designated as “Confidential” in a secure location, subject to any applicable Statute of Limitations. ?
“The Business Court would like to extend its sincere gratitude to the Business Court Advisory Committee for its instrumental assistance in the amendment of the aforementioned forms,” a spokesperson for the Business Court said. “For those attorneys who practice before the Business Court, please take the time to review and utilize the amended forms.”
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