Commercial Division Of New York State Supreme Court Adopts Rule Regarding Responses And Objections To Document Requests

On January 22, 2015, the Chief Administrative Judge of the Courts of New York adopted a new rule applicable to the Commercial Division, effective April 1, 2015, that will require parties to provide increased specificity when responding and objecting to document requests. While the CPLR already requires parties to state objections with "reasonable particularity," the new Rule goes considerably farther by (1) requiring an objecting party to specifically identify which objections form the basis for its withholding documents from production and the specific manner by which the producing party intends to limit the scope of its production, (2) setting a default deadline prior to the start of fact depositions by which the responding party must complete production of its documents and (3) requiring the responding party to state prior to the close of fact discovery whether, with respect to each individual document request, it has completed its document production or whether there are no responsive documents in its possession, custody or control.

Although it is unclear how the rule will be interpreted and implemented in practice, it is clear that litigants in the Commercial Division will need to pay close attention to this rule to ensure compliance.

1. Background

   Rule 11-e of the Rules of Practice for the Commercial Division, which was adopted by order of the Chief Administrative Judge of the Courts on January 22, 2015 and becomes effective April 1, 2015, is the latest of a series of reforms intended to streamline business-related litigation in response to problems identified in Chief Judge Jonathan Lippman's Task Force on Commercial Litigation in the 21st Century. Recent changes include the increase of monetary thresholds for Commercial Division cases throughout New York, new limits on the number of depositions and interrogatories per case, and changes regarding requirements for privilege logs.

2. Application of the Rule

   Rule 11-e provides specific requirements for responding and objecting to document requests pursuant to CPLR 3122(a), which governs responses to notices to produce served on parties and subpoenas duces tecum served on third parties. The new rule imposes three major changes:

   First, pursuant to Rule 11-e(b), responses must specifically state (i) whether the objection(s) pertain to all or part of the request being challenged; (ii) whether any documents or categories of documents are being withheld and which specific objections form the...