award winning advocacy

​LCJ has helped to streamline rules in our civil justice system that waste businesses’ time and resources and has been honored by the Institute of Legal Reform at the U.S. Chamber for its success reforming current rules that require businesses of all sizes to retain massive amounts of information irrelevant to their cases.

The position papers hyperlinked below illustrate the scope and depth of recent LCJ rule making campaigns that laid the foundation for the recent discovery reforms related to scope, preservation and costs.  The formal comments, combined with the face-to-face testimony and interaction of LCJ members at various hearings and additional support provided by leading legal scholars and academics, provides compelling reasons for judges, Members of Congress and rule makers to give serious consideration to fundamental rule reform.

INITIATIVES

RULES FOR MDLS 

​Although MDLs were designed to be efficient mechanisms for coordinating pretrial discovery and motions, in many instances they have become one-sided forums for settlement pressure that lack the protections of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure.​

ALLOCATE DISCOVERY COSTS

LCJ supports amending the FRCP to require each party to pay the cost of the discovery it seeks. Such a rule would permit parties to access information that will enable fact finders to determine the outcome of civil litigation – while aligning well-proven economic incentives with the reality of modern litigation. ​​

CLARIFY EXPERT EVIDENCE STANDARDS

LCJ support amending Rule 702 to encourage judges to be gatekeepers and allow only admissible expert evidence to be presented to the finder of fact.

REDUCE BURDENSOME DISCOVERY

LCJ has advocated for amendments to the FRCP governing discovery since 2010. On December 1, 2015, changes intended to reduce the costs and burdens associated with the epidemic of over-discovery went into effect. ​​ ​

AMICUS BRIEFS

As amicus curiae, LCJ fights for procedural fairness and urges courts to achieve the "just, speedy, and inexpensive determination of every action or proceeding" outlined in Rule 1.  ​

FIX RULE 30(B)(6)

Rule 30(b)(6) has proven controversial and complicated since it was added to the FRCP in 1970. It requires organizations such as corporations to designate people to testify on their behalf about specific matters raised in litigation. ​
"I have been particularly impressed with LCJ's network of defense bar leaders who are not afraid to take on the plaintiffs' bar in both the legislative and judicial arenas."

- michael harrington, sr. vice president and general counsel eli lilly

Resources