Utah Courts – Page 5 – Utah Court Rules

Posted: April 20, 2023

Rules of Appellate Procedure – Effective May 1, 2023

URAP005. Discretionary appeals from interlocutory orders. Final Rule 5 is amended to: (1) clarify what will be deemed the entry date for an order that is entered on a weekend or legal holiday; and (2) clean up language for clarity and consistency.

URAP011. The record on appeal. Final Rule 11 is amended to: (1) add a requirement that parties include the position of all other parties when filing a motion to supplement the record; and (2) change the reference to Rule 11(e)(1) to (c)(1).

URAP022. Computation and enlargement of time. Final Rule 22 is amended to: (1) clarify what will be deemed the entry date for an order that is entered on a weekend or legal holiday; (2) clarify “legal holiday” and provide a link to the Utah Court’s website that lists the holidays on which the Utah State Courts are closed; (3) add a requirement that parties include the position of all other parties when filing a motion; and (4) clean up language for clarity and consistency.

URAP052. Child welfare appeals. Final Rule 52 is amended to: (1) clarify what will be deemed the entry date for an order that is entered on a weekend or legal holiday; and (2) clean up format for consistency.

Supreme Court Order

Posted: April 20, 2023

Rules of Appellate Procedure – Effective May 3, 2023

URAP004. Appeal as of right: when taken. S.B. 18, the Public Expression Protection Act, originally sought to impose a 21-day deadline to file a notice of appeal from the denial of an expedited motion to dismiss a lawsuit under the Act. But the Utah Supreme Court’s legislative liaison recognized that including a deadline to file a notice of appeal in a statute could raise constitutional questions about whether that deadline infringes the Court’s procedural rulemaking authority. There was not enough time left in the legislative session for the legislature to pursue a joint resolution to amend the rules of appellate procedure to add the new deadline. Thus, to avoid future litigation on the constitutional issue, court and legislative personnel worked jointly to amend rule 4 to include the new deadline to take effect simultaneously with the bill’s effective date of May 3, 2023. The Court has accordingly adopted the amendment to rule 4 on an expedited basis, with the public comment period to follow, pursuant to rule 11-105(5) of the Utah Rules of Judicial Administration.

Supreme Court Order

Posted: April 18, 2023

Rules of Professional Conduct and Rules Governing the Utah State Bar – Effective May 1, 2023

RPC08.03. Reporting Professional Misconduct. Amend. Clarifies that a lawyer or judge participating in a Utah State Bar-sponsored fee dispute resolution program is not required to disclose information gained in that program to the Office of Professional Conduct.

Supreme Court Order for RPC 8.3

USB14-01111. Exemption from future testimony and confidentiality of records and information. Amend. Clarifies when the Bar may disclose confidential information and what information it may disclose in the context of its fee dispute resolution program. A post-comment period amendment further clarifies that disclosure to law enforcement is permitted to the extent disclosure is necessary to prevent reasonably certain death or substantial bodily harm. Also clarifies that a Fee Dispute Resolution Committee member who participates in a fee dispute arbitration may not be called as a witness in any subsequent legal proceeding related to the fee dispute.

USB14-01116. Conduct of the mediation. Amend. Permits the fee dispute mediator to serve notice of the mediation by email on the mediating parties.

Supreme Court Order for USB 14-1111 and 14-1116

Posted: April 18, 2023

Rules Governing the Utah State Bar – Effective May 1, 2023

USB14-0402. Definitions. AMEND. Terminology amendments.

USB14-0404. Active status lawyers MCLE, NLTP, admission on motion, multi-state compliance reciprocity, house counsel and UBE requirements; MCLE requirements for Paralegal Practitioners. AMEND. Terminology amendments; clarifications around the New Lawyer Training Program.

USB14-0408. Credit hour defined; application for approval. AMEND. Terminology amendments.

USB14-0409. Categories of Elective CLE defined. AMEND. Terminology amendments.

USB14-0410. Accreditation of CLE; undue hardship and special Accreditation. AMEND. Terminology amendments.

USB14-0411. Board Accreditation of CLE. AMEND. Terminology amendments.

USB14-0412. Presumptively approved CLE providers; presumptive CLE Accreditation. AMEND. Terminology amendments.

USB14-0413. CLE Accreditation for qualified audio and video presentations, webcasts, computer interactive telephonic programs, writing, lecturing, teaching, public service, and live attendance. AMEND. Terminology amendments.

USB14-0414. Certificate of compliance; filing, late, and reinstatement fees; suspension; reinstatement. AMEND. Terminology amendments.

USB14-0418. Remote group CLE. AMEND. Terminology amendments.

USB14-0419. CLE Credit for Pro Bono Legal Services. NEW. Proposes a two-year pilot project that will provide CLE credit for pro bono services performed under the auspices of a Utah court, the Utah State Bar, or a sponsoring entity.

Supreme Court Order

Posted: March 20, 2023

Code of Judicial Administration – Effective May 1, 2023

CJA03-0403. Judicial branch education (AMEND). Proposed amendments require judicial officers and court employees to complete annual training on harassment and abusive conduct, ethics, inclusion, and elimination of bias. Other amendments are intended to streamline the rule and reflect current onboarding and orientation practices.

Judicial Council Order

Posted: March 13, 2023

Rules of Criminal Procedure – Effective May 3, 2023

URCrP007B. Preliminary Examinations. In its 2023 legislative session, the Utah Legislature approved SJR006, modifying Rule 7B of the Utah Rules of Criminal Procedure. The amendment clarifies the extent to which a magistrate may use hearsay evidence to find probable cause in a preliminary examination.

URCrP016. Discovery. In its 2023 legislative session, the Utah Legislature approved SJR006, modifying Rule 16 of the Utah Rules of Criminal Procedure. The amendment requires prosecutors to disclose all evidence relied upon when filing an information and creates a deadline for such disclosure.

Posted: March 13, 2023

Rules of Evidence – Effective May 3, 2023

URE1102. Reliable Hearsay in Criminal Preliminary Examinations. In its 2023 legislative session, the Utah Legislature approved SJR006, modifying Rule 1102 of the Utah Rules of Evidence. The amendment permits a prosecutor, or staff for a prosecutor, to transcribe a declarant’s statement or assist a declarant in drafting a statement, so long as the prosecutor, or staff for the prosecutor, does not draft the statement or tamper with the witness.

Posted: February 27, 2023

Supreme Court Rules of Professional Practice – Effective February 22, 2023

CJA11-0107. Open and Public Meetings. NEW. This rule describes when Supreme Court committees should hold open meetings and defines allowable reasons for closed meetings. This rule is consistent with the philosophy of the Open and Public Meetings Act.

Supreme Court Order

Posted: February 27, 2023

Rules of Appellate Procedure – Effective May 1, 2023

URAP020. Habeas corpus proceedings. Repeal/Add Advisory Committee Note. Rule 20 has been repealed because it is superfluous and confusing, and could prejudice a criminal defendant’s opportunity to seek relief under the Post-Conviction Remedies Act (PCRA). Rules 65B and 65C of the civil rules, together with the PCRA, Utah Code § 78B-9-101 to -110, already provide mechanisms to challenge the lawfulness of any official detention. Although the rule is being repealed, there will be an advisory committee note left in Rule 20 advising parties that although Rule 20 has been repealed, they still have the ability to file a petition directly to the Supreme Court under Rule 19, under appropriate circumstances.

URAP019. Extraordinary writs. Rule 19 has been amended to: (1) incorporate a page and word limit, and a certificate of compliance, similar to the requirements in Rule 24 regarding briefs; (2) add the ability for the petitioner to file a reply after service of a response; (3) increase the amount of time to file a response from 7 days to 30; (4) add an Advisory Committee Note advising parties that although Rule 20 has been repealed, they still have the ability to file a petition directly to the Supreme Court under Rule 19 under appropriate circumstances; and (5) clean up language for clarity and consistency.

URAP023. Motions. Rule 23 has been amended to substitute “discussion” for “memorandum.” The Committee believes that the word “memorandum” can lead individuals to file unnecessarily a separate document containing the facts and arguments supporting their requests, rather than merely including those facts and arguments in the original petition or motion.

URAP023C. Motion for emergency relief. Rule 23C has been amended to: (1) change the reference to Rule 19; (2) change the rule reference in paragraph (e) concerning form of papers from Rule 23(f) to Rule 27, as paragraph 23(f) was relocated to Rule 27 effective November 1, 2021; and (3) correct formatting for consistency. The rule currently refers to a specific subparagraph in Rule 19 that will be renumbered under the proposed amendments. To avoid cross-referencing problems that future amendments may create, the Committee recommends directing parties to the general rule rather than a specific paragraph.

Supreme Court Order

Posted: February 24, 2023

Rules of Civil Procedure – Effective May 1, 2023

URCP041. Dismissal of Actions. Amend. Subparagraphs (a)(1)(A) and (a)(2) were amended to permit a plaintiff, under specified circumstances, to dismiss an action, “a claim, or a party,” rather than only an action.

Supreme Court Order