NEW COURT RULES as of January 1, 2012

WHO: The pilot program applies to District Court civil litigation business cases, including breach of contract, business tort actions, (e.g. unfair competition, fiduciary duty, fraud, misrepresentation) transactions involving the Uniform Commercial Code, commercial real property transactions, cases involving business dealings, intellectual property, business transactions with commercial banks or other financial institutions, and product liability. There are other matters as well.

Excluded are : Construction defect claims; foreclosure actions or for rent on real property, replevin cases, and cases involving a statute or rule that contains distinct time frames for the proceeding. (Mechanic Lien foreclosures would be included in this). There are other exclusions not listed.

WHAT: Plaintiff must file a disclosure statement within 21 days after service of the complaint. Defendant must file an answer within 21 days after service of the disclosure statement. The parties are to meet and confer within 14 days after filing of the answer. An initial case management conference will be held within 49 days after the answer is filed. Seven days prior to the conference, the parties will submit a joint report.

WHERE: Jefferson, Gilpin, Adams, Denver, and Arapahoe Counties.

WHEN: On January 1, 2012, the Colorado Supreme Court instituted a pilot program for civil cases. It expires on January 1, 2014.

HOW DOES THIS AFFECT YOU: You will need to give us more information up front in order to file the disclosure statement. The statement must include a listing of all person with information related to the claims and a brief description of the information each such individual is believed to possess; and a list of documents related to the claims, whether they are supportive or harmful.

Be aware of the change of dates in when the answer is due.

Your case may move faster than before. A single judge is assigned to the case from start to finish. The judge will manage the case much more closely than before. Requests for extensions and continuances will be denied by the Court, so we have to be sure that trial dates work for all witnesses schedules.

For more help on these new court rules visit /