Posted: February 17, 2023
Rules of Civil Procedure – Comment Period Closed April 3, 2023
URCP010. Form of pleadings and other papers. Amend. The Committee proposes to amend subparagraph (d) of this rule to modify the top margin from 1½ inches to 1 inch, like the right, left, and bottom margins. The reason for the wider margin at the top was to allow filing of paper copies in a folder with top hole punches. With electronic filing, this extra space at the top is no longer needed.
URCP100A. Case Management of Domestic Relations Actions. Amend. The Committee proposes to amend subparagraph (a) to exempt actions initiated by the Office of Recovery Services from this Rule. ORS reports that because its actions usually require service on more than one party, it often happens that one of them will be served and file an answer, prompting a case management conference to be set. The setting will often be premature because the other party has not yet been served or has not yet responded. In other cases a case management conference is unnecessary because the responding parties agree with ORS’s pleading.
Well, I appreciate appreciate that the courts have gone to an all Electronic Filing, many private attorneys, Especially smaller, firm attorneys, still maintain paper files and carry paper files to and from the court to argue cases. They still need the one and a half inch margin at the top. It does no harm to leave the margin at one and a half inches and as I’ve indicated, I believe a significant number of members of the bar still use paper files, even if it is in conjunction with Electronic stored files. Therefore I believe it would be Appropriate to not change the rule at this time.
Rule 10 – I’m glad to see this change!
The proposed change to page margins (URCP010) will be the straw that breaks the judicial system’s back. The change will overwhelm the courts by giving attorneys the opportunity to cram even more meaningless and unnecessary language into their filings. On a 25-page motion for summary judgment, this change could mean up to 25 additional lines of argument! Judicial efficiency will suffer. Eye care insurance for court employees will skyrocket. The printer ink supply will crater. Greenfiling will crash (although this may not be related). And there will be less space on printed filings for members of the bench and bar to doodle on while pretending to take notes.
Just kidding. This change is long overdue. Due to the default 1-inch setting for all margins in Microsoft Word, the current rule is often flouted without consequence. Thus, only those who follow the rules at the cost of 1 line per page are “punished.” In any event, a one-inch margin will be enough space even for vertical file folders (just as the current one-inch left margin is sufficient for those who use three-ring binders).