The Civil Procedure Rule Committee has approved a new Practice Direction which sets down rules for a mandatory disclosure pilot scheme.
The pilot scheme will run for two years in the Business and Property Courts of England and Wales, starting on 1 January 2019 and applies to existing and new proceedings.
Lewis Silkin Dispute Resolution team were joined by Lesley Anderson QC on 22 November and hosted a discussion about the fundamental changes to the disclosure process, the biggest for 20 years and they explain here in greater detail the reasoning behind the pilot and how it will work in practice.
The pilot does not at this stage extend to County Court proceedings, although we are told that this may be reviewed in the course of the pilot.
The changes represent the biggest reforms to disclosure since the introduction of the Civil Procedure Rules almost 20 years ago, both in terms of the process itself and the duties arising for both litigants and lawyers.
http://www.lewissilkin.com/Insights/Major-overhaul-to-disclosure-coming-are-you-ready
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