Document Production

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Citing new deposition testimony, actor Justin Theroux in a recent motion asked the New York Supreme Court to reconsider its December 2020 denial of Theroux’s motion to compel production of emails that his neighbor, Norman Resnicow, a law firm partner, sent to his personal lawyer about the parties’ quarrel (related to the New York City co-op where they both reside) using his law firm email account. 

ICC arbitrations based on agreements entered into in 2021 and beyond will follow an expedited procedure if the amount in dispute is $3 million or less – up from the previous $2 million or less.

This expansion of the automatic applicability of the Expedited Procedure is one of the most significant amendments made to the revised ICC Arbitration Rules 2021, which entered into force on January 1, 2021. It is thus important for parties agreeing to ICC arbitration to be acquainted with the key features of that procedure and with their ability to either opt in or opt out of it.

The Expedited Procedure will apply automatically to disputes up to $3 million unless the parties agree to opt out. Just as importantly, parties are free to opt in to the Expedited Procedure even if the amount in dispute exceeds $3 million.  As a practical matter, parties are likely to be able to agree to opt in or out only at the time they are negotiating the arbitration agreement: whether to do so should thus be considered at that time.

Effective as of January 1, 2020, all civil litigants in California will have additional discovery burdens. The California Code of Civil Procedure now requires “[a]ny documents or category of documents produced in response to a demand for inspection, copying, testing, or sampling shall be identified with the specific request number to which the documents respond.”  Cal. Civ. Pro. § 2031.280(a). This is a major departure from the prior rule. Responsive documents can no longer be produced as they were “kept in the usual course of business.”  This new requirement applies to all pending cases in California, regardless of whether a case commenced prior to the amendment’s effective date of January 1, 2020.