Joint NYSBA and City Bar Proposal To Amend Preliminary Conference Rule Changes Approved by Chief Administrative Judge Joseph A. Zayas
5.15.2024
Amendments to Uniform Rule 202.12, developed jointly by the New York State Bar Association and the New York City Bar Association, have been ordered by Chief Administrative Judge Joseph A. Zayas after approval by the Administrative Board of New York’s Unified Court System. The approved revisions relate to the rules for preliminary conferences.
A joint proposal of changes developed by the New York State Bar Association and New York City Bar Association to amend Uniform Rule 202.12 has been approved by Chief Administrative Judge Joseph A. Zayas. The approved revisions relate to the rules for preliminary conferences.
The new rules are effective May 20, 2024. They are intended to provide guidance for litigants to meet and confer prior to the preliminary conference and outline topics to be considered at the preliminary conference with the courts.
“We are grateful to the Administrative Board of the Courts and Chief Administrative Judge Joseph A. Zayas for this positive change that is intended to provide guidelines to better facilitate, streamline and reduce the costs of litigation in our courts,” said New York State Bar Association President Richard C. Lewis and City Bar President Susan J. Kohlmann in a joint statement.
The amendments to Rule 202.12 of the Uniform Rules for the Supreme Court and the County Court require attorneys to meet and confer on discovery issues, insurance coverage, alternative dispute resolution and a schedule for preparing the case for trial with their clients and their adversaries before the preliminary conference.
The amendments will encourage early and active judicial intervention to supervise the preliminary conference and to assist litigants in focusing on the principal factual and legal issues in dispute, consider ADR, and other preliminary matters. At the same time, the amendments permit litigants to eliminate the need for a preliminary conference altogether, if they meet and confer about the case, certify to the court that they have done so, and stipulate to a preliminary conference order.
The joint report entitled “Proposed Amendments to Uniform Rule 202.12 on Preliminary Conferences to Promote Efficiency in Litigation” on behalf of the New York State Bar Association and the New York City Bar Association was adopted by the Executive Committee of the New York State Bar Association on January 19, 2023, by means of the State Bar’s Committee on Civil Practice Law and Rules, and by the President of the New York City Bar Association on November 22, 2022, by means of the City Bar’s Council on Judicial Administration, its Litigation Committee, and its Committee on State Courts of Superior Jurisdiction.
