For the first time, a standard for obtaining pre-complaint discovery in Pennsylvania was articulated in the Pennsylvania Rule of Civil Procedure 4003.8, which became effective in November 2007. The passing of this rule is noteworthy because the rules previously acknowledged the possibility of pre-complaint discovery, but they did not outline the burden that a litigant seeking such discovery must meet. While judicial consideration of the availability of pre-complaint discovery shared a common theme concerning the circumstances in which it may be had — the discovery must be necessary to prepare a complaint — the threshold burden for demonstrating such a need was not clear.
Font Size: 
Litigation
The Implications of Rule 4003.8: Pre-Complaint Discovery
The Legal Intelligencer
October 27, 2008
This content is now available at LexisNexis®.
The ALM® and LexisNexis® Content Alliance
LexisNexis® is now the exclusive third party online distributor of the broad collection of current and archived versions of ALM’s legal news publications. LexisNexis® customers will be able to access and use ALM’s content by subscribing to the LexisNexis® services via lexis.com® and Nexis®. This includes content from The National Law Journal®, The American Lawyer®, Law Technology News®, The New York Law Journal® and Corporate Counsel®, as well as ALM’s other newspapers, directories, legal treatises, published and unpublished court opinions, and other sources of legal information.
ALM’s content plays a significant role in your work and research, and now through this alliance LexisNexis® will bring you access to an even more comprehensive collection of legal content.
If you are not currently a LexisNexis subscriber, contact 1-800-227-4908 to find out more or click here to have a customer representative contact you directly.
