Updated Disclosure Pilot Guide
Earlier this year the Disclosure Working Group announced further changes to the evolving Practice Direction 51U and the rules of Disclosure in the Business and Property Courts, also referred to as the Disclosure Pilot Scheme (DPS). The changes are now in effect and mark yet another extension of the Disclosure Pilot until 31 December 2022.
Here at Sky Discovery we have outlined some of the key elements of this latest round of changes with a practical guide on the order of events and key timelines.
What are the amendments?
The substantive amendments are as follows:
Claims of less than £500,000 can now follow a “Less Complex Claims” route With a new form of DRD
Complex multiple party cases can now be run more flexibly, either extending or reducing the DRD and timetable.
The List of Issues for Disclosure must be streamlined with an explicit requirement for it to be as short and concise as possible.
The timing for a party to respond to a draft List of Issues is now 21 days (it was 14 days)
What is the impact?
The impact that the DPS changes will have on the Disclosure process will undoubtedly become clear over the course of the next 12 months, but the continuing refinement of the Pilot Scheme shows that the changes have been positive and what is happening now is that the rough edges are being smoothed out.
The fact that “small claims” and “multi party Claims” are being considered shows that the plan is to ensure that all matters, regardless of size or complexity, are following the same guidelines but importantly are not being forced into following a structure that simply does not work for specific cases.
From an eDiscovery point of view the changes mean practice support teams and service providers will need to continue to refine the workflows for disclosure and develop innovative processes to assist their clients.
Summary of the current DPS Rules
Following the most recent changes we have summaries in the table below the key components of the rules which should be considered in contrast to the former CPR Part 31 rules. It details the stage in proceedings, summarising the actions, time limits and upon whom the responsibility lies with.