Posted: April 25, 2024
Utah Rules of Business and Chancery Court Procedure – Comment Period Closes June 9, 2024
NEW Rules of Business and Chancery Court Procedure – These rules were drafted using the Utah Rules of Civil Procedure as their base line. Thus, the Committee determined that the Rules of Civil Procedure were adequate for the Business and Chancery Court, these rules simply incorporate them by reference rather than repeat the identical language. For example, although these rules include significant modifications to Utah Rule of Civil Procedure 26, necessitating a distinct Rule 26 for the Business and Chancery Court, the Committee concluded that Utah Rule of Civil Procedure 37, including its mechanisms for enforcing the parties’ discovery obligations under Rule 26, could be adopted into these rules without modification and is therefore incorporated by reference. The Rules of Civil Procedure that do not apply in Business and Chancery Court are explicitly excluded by reference in Appendix A.
URBCP001.NEW — General provisions.
URBCP008.NEW — General rules of pleadings.
URBCP010.NEW — Form of pleadings and other papers.
URBCP013.NEW — Counterclaim and crossclaim.
URBCP014.NEW— Third-party practice.
URBCP016.NEW— Pretrial conferences.
URBCP018.NEW— Joinder of claims and remedies.
URBCP019.NEW— Joinder of persons needed for just adjudication.
URBCP020.NEW— Permissive joinder of parties.
URBCP022.NEW — Interpleader.
URBCP024.NEW— Intervention.
URBCP026.NEW — General provisions governing disclosure and discovery.
URBCP038.NEW— Jury trial of right.
URBCP042.NEW — Consolidation and separate trials.
URBCP063.NEW — Disability or disqualification of a judge.
URBCP065A.NEW— Injunctions.
URBCP065B.NEW — Extraordinary relief.
URBCP077.NEW — Business and chancery court; clerks.
URBCP085.NEW— Title.
URBCP086.NEW — Licensed paralegal practitioners.
Appendix A Rules of Civil Procedure excluded from Rules of Business and Chancery Court Procedure
Congratulations to the committee for the creation of these rules.
This comment relates to Proposed Rule 1.
For subsection (b), I would suggest Utah R. Bus. & Ch. P. I recognize that the abbreviation is considerably longer than what the drafters have proposed. However, it is more consistent with the Bluebook (See, for example, BB R. 12.9.3, T.1 (no abbreviation of “Utah”), T.6 (abbreviation of “Business” and the use of the ampersand), T.7 (abbreviation of “Chancery”)).
It is also more consistent with other Utah rules that suggest an abbreviation, such as the Utah Rules of Appellate Procedure, and the Utah Rules of Juvenile procedure.
Finally, it would also avoid confusion, especially for people who are not aware of, or do not regularly practice in the Business and Chancery Court. The shorter abbreviation may be confused with the rules of civil or criminal procedure, especially if the writer has any typographical errors deviating from the abbreviation.
For subsection (f), I would suggest the following language, to replace the second sentence of subsection (f): “A party must provide a copy of the decision to the court and all parties if the decision is not available in a publicly accessible electronic database, or if requested by the court or an opposing party.”
Most cases in Business and Chancery Court will likely be litigated by sophisticated parties represented by counsel who will have access to reported and unreported decisions through commercial electronic databases. Requiring the parties to attach all decisions of the Business and Chancery court will waste time and resources when the decisions can be quickly and easily accessed by the court and all parties.
This proposed change strikes a balance in the rare circumstances where a decision may not be readily available. It will also be consistent with the practice in federal court, as reflected in DUCivR 7-2(c).
(These comments are mine only and do not necessarily represent the opinion of my employer or any other organization with which I am associated.)