This article on the McCann website is an interesting look at how the Irish courts are contemplating disclosure and the changes that they are considering.
The authors note that the proposed new materiality standard is to be welcomed, as it would undoubtedly cut costs given the volume of documents that currently have to be discovered as relevant to categories sought, although they are not material to the issues in dispute. Take a read for more..
Thanks to Karyn Harty, Seán Barton and Paula Fearon for sharing this.
The draft court rules accompanying the Review suggest that the production of documents on which parties intend to rely and those referenced in their pleadings will constitute standard production, with scope to seek further documents by way of a request to produce and, if necessary, a document production order. There is much merit in this proposal, although plaintiffs – or claimants as they would be known – may baulk at the front-loading of the document production requirement prior to the defendant having to show its hand in its defence, or in the documents it produces. This would indeed require a significant culture change.
https://www.mccannfitzgerald.com/knowledge/disputes/overhaul-of-discovery-procedures-recommended
