Proposed state Supreme Court rule changes miss the mark

For the Defense

By Donald P. Eckler

Donald “Pat” Eckler is a partner at Pretzel & Stouffer focusing on professional liability defense, insurance coverage litigation, and general tort defense. He is the legislative chair of the Illinois Association of Defense Trial Counsel. His views are his own and not those of his firm or its clients.

Posted April 14, 2020 3:23 PM

Two proposed changes to the Illinois Supreme Court Rules pending before the Chicago Bar Association Civil Practice Committee would substantially change practice related to expert discovery — and not for the better.The first proposal would change Rule 203 and require a controlled expert witness to come to the county where the case is pending for their deposition at the expert’s expense (which effectively would be a party expense). This would apply whether the deposition was for the purposes of discovery or evidence.The …

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