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New Federal Rules For Pending Cases, M. Anderson Berry, Caroline N. Mitchell

M. Anderson Berry

On Dec. 1, 2010, changes to Rule 26 of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure (FRCP) extended work-product protection to discovery of draft reports by testifying experts and, with three exceptions, to communications between those experts and retaining attorneys. The amendments also require attorneys relying on experts who will provide testimony - but who are not required to provide a full expert report - to disclose the subject matter of the planned testimony and summarize the facts and opinions that the expert expects to offer.

What is not clear is whether this "attorney-expert work-product doctrine" applies to draft reports and …

Pleading Their Case: How Ashcroft V. Iqbal Extinguishes Prisoners’ Rights, Maureen Brocco

Maureen Brocco

Ashcroft v. Iqbal, decided on May 18, 2009, increased the evidentiary burden required to survive a Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 12(b)(6) (“Rule 12(b)(6)”) motion to dismiss to a strict plausibility standard. While this decision affects almost all civil claims in the federal court system, its impact is particularly troublesome in the realm of prisoners’ rights litigation. For a prisoner, such onerous pre-litigation fact-finding requirements can turn the administration of justice into an unattainable goal. Since prisoners’ claims are often against their captors, government officials, this heightened pleading burden may leave victims of egregious unconstitutional actions by government officials without …