This is part one of a two-part comprehensive summary of the new Rules for Expedited Actions recently approved by the Texas Supreme Court. The new Rules can be found in their entirety here.
Effective Date:
- Applies to cases filed on or after March 1, 2013.
When it Applies:
- When all claimants, other than counter-claimants, affirmatively plead that they seek only monetary relief aggregating $100,000.00 or less including damages of any kind.
- Post-judgment interest is not included.
When it Does Not Apply:
- Suits involving the Family Code, Property Code, Tax Code, or Medical Liability Claims.
Discovery:
- Discovery period lasts for180 days after the date first discovery is served.
- Please be aware that if requests for disclosure are served with the original petition and you are the last served defendant, your discovery period could be less than 180 days.
- 6 hours for all oral depositions (meaning cumulative time for all witnesses) for each party, but can agree up to 10 hours without court approval.
- You can increase your available deposition time without court approval when you represent multiple defendants.
- However, please be aware that if there are multiple plaintiffs represented by a single attorney and one defendant, this tactic will be used against you.
- Interrogatories, requests for production, and requests for admissions are limited to 15 for each party.
- You can increase the discovery requests when you represent multiple defendants.
- Again, this tactic will be used against you if there are multiple plaintiffs represented by a single attorney and one defendant.
- Requests for disclosure can include a request for all documents and information in support of claim or defense.
