On January 25, 2024, Attorney General Downey and Chief Justice Morawetz launched the Civil Rules Review (“CRR”). A Working Group of 14 individuals – drawn from the bar, the bench, and academia – was mandated to identify issues and develop proposals for reforming the Rules of Civil Procedure (the “Rules”) to make civil court proceedings more efficient, affordable, and accessible.

Phase 1 was completed in May 2024. Through a process of discussion and targeted consultation, it involved identifying the scope of potential reforms for more in-depth consideration. The Phase 1 report can be found here. 

The CRR is currently in Phase 2. Phase 2 sets out proposals which are currently open for public consultation. The Phase 2 report can be found here. We encourage you to read the report in depth as this report proposes significant changes to the way we practice law. The questions that follow will identify the parts of the Phase 2 report that the question pertains to. We have not asked questions on every part of the report but instead on those substantive portions that the HLA Board executive felt necessary for comment. There will be an opportunity at the end of the survey for further comment on any proposal not mentioned in this survey.

While this may take 10-15 minutes to complete we encourage you to complete the survey and provide your input.

The HLA requests your input on the proposed changes to the Rules of Civil Procedure in order to provide an effective response to the consultation on behalf of the membership.

Please use the following link to access the survey: https://forms.gle/TwWSnV4KUn89FJyv7