A newly amended rule aimed at streamlining the often voluminous and extensive discovery tied to New York Commercial Division cases encourages the Commercial Division to require plaintiffs to produce a document stating the litigation’s issues, elements of alleged causes of action, and the facts needed to establish the case.

Such pre-preliminary conference documents, which the rule likewise encourages courts to require from counterclaim plaintiffs, may in turn lead to more preliminary conference court orders that establish a litigation schedule for limited-issue discovery in support of early dispositive motions or settlement, or a schedule for dispositive motions being lodged before discovery or limited-issue discovery even takes place, according to longtime Manhattan-based commercial litigation attorney Mark Zauderer.