The U.S. Supreme Court has adopted a package of amendments to the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, which will take effect on Dec. 1. Some commentators have described these rule changes as the most significant since the initial enactment of the federal rules in 1938.
One of the most important changes for New Jersey lawyers is found in Rule 26(b)(1), which presently states that parties may obtain discovery of any nonprivileged matter “that is relevant to any party’s claim or defense … [although the] … [relevant] information need not be admissible at the trial if the discovery appears reasonably calculated to lead to the discovery of admissible evidence.”
