New CPR 31.5A looks set to shake up the disclosure process in England & Wales, reports Garry Bernstein
The principle that the costs of conducting litigation should be proportionate and satisfy the overriding objective is long-established in the Civil Procedure Rules (CPR). However, accurately forecasting and managing eDisclosure costs have often been difficult to achieve in practice. This reality is in part due to the burgeoning volumes of email and other electronic documents that form a typical eDisclosure exercise. Another factor is the lack of precise metrics or case law as to what “proportionate” actually means in practice and it is this point that the judiciary has addressed in CPR 31.5A.
Significant change
From April 2013, a new CPR 31.5A will operate in conjunction with Practice Direction 31B (the disclosure of electronic documents) and will apply to all multi-track proceedings, except those relating to personal injuries and clinical negligence. In many respects, CPR 31.5A codifies existing best practice in relation to eDisclosure,
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