Superior Court Seeks Comments on Proposed Amendments to Rules of Civil Procedure
November 03, 2020
The Superior Court of the District of Columbia issued a pair of notices relating to proposed amendments to its Rules of Civil Procedure and the recommendation not to adopt Federal Rule of Criminal Procedure 16.1. Comments are due December 7.
Civil Procedure Notice
The court’s Rules Committee announced it will recommend that the Superior Court Board of Judges approve the proposed amendments to Rules of Civil Procedure 4, 5, 5-III, 10-I, 12-I, 16, 40-III, and 45 unless, after consideration of comments from the Bar and general public, the proposed amendments are withdrawn or modified.
Proposed changes would allow for alternative methods to serve a summons where traditional service is ineffective and the alternative method is reasonably calculated to give actual notice, including permitting the delivery of service to a person’s place of employment, transmitting service electronically, posting on the court’s website, and service in other manners deemed by the court to be just and reasonable. Another change requires electronic filing and service of the documents to be filed under seal. In addition, self-represented parties would be required to provide an email address in initial pleadings.
Motions practice rules relating to judges in chambers decisions and the emergency assignment of judges are eliminated. New information regarding these processes will be made available, but their elimination from the civil rules permits the chief judge greater flexibility to assign judges and administer the business of the court.
Changes to the rules applying to collection and subrogation now more clearly define the cases covered by the rule and eliminate sections made unnecessary by other rules and amendments.
Finally, an amendment eliminates the requirement that a subpoena include the calendar number and name of the assigned judge or magistrate judge.
The full text of the notice can be found here.
Criminal Procedure Notice
The Rules Committee also recommends that the Superior Court Board of Judges decline to adopt Federal Rule of Criminal Procedure 16.1 (relating to procedures for pretrial disclosure), stating that it is unnecessary in light of existing procedures in Superior Court Rule of Criminal Procedure 16-I and because Superior Court cases are generally less complex than federal court cases and do not involve the same volume of electronically stored information.
The full text of the notice can be found here.
Written comments relating to either order can be emailed by pdf to [email protected] or mailed to:
Laura M.L. Wait
Associate General Counsel
Superior Court of the District of Columbia
500 Indiana Avenue, NW, Room 6715
Washington, DC 20001
