Pathways Pilot

Streamlined pathway

The Streamlined Pathway is reserved for cases that present uncomplicated facts and legal issues. Streamlined Pathway cases require minimal judicial intervention but close court staff monitoring through Odyssey. This pathway is designed to address the concern that for many litigants the cost of litigating a case through trial exceeds the monetary value of the case.

This pathway provides an expedited process for cases with a limited number of parties, routine legal and evidentiary issues, few anticipated pretrial motions, limited need for discovery, few witnesses, minimal documentary evidence, and anticipated trial length of one or less days.

Mandatory disclosures must be made within 30 days of execution of the discovery protocol that include:

• the name, last-known title and dates of employment, if applicable, and, if known, the address and telephone number of each individual likely to have discoverable information—along with the subjects of that information—that the disclosing party may use to support its claims or defenses, unless the use would be solely for impeachment;
• a copy—or a description by category and location—of all documents, electronically stored information, and tangible things that the disclosing party has in its possession, custody, or control and may use to support its claims or defenses, unless the use would be solely for impeachment;

No party shall serve more than: fifteen (15) interrogatories, fifteen (15) requests for production, and fifteen (15) requests for admission (excluding authenticating business records).  Sub-parts to interrogatories, requests for productions and requests for admission shall not be counted as part of the number served, provided that the subparts are related to the same topic (i.e., multiple questions within one question, such as 1(A)-(D))).

Each party is limited to not more than two (2) depositions (excluding experts and parties or party representatives), with a three-hour (3) limit for each deposition (unless the deposition is of an expert, a party, or a party representative).

Complex pathway

The Complex Pathway is appropriate for cases that present multiple legal and factual issues, involve many parties, or otherwise are likely to require close court supervision. This pathway is designed to emphasize the need to comply with case management deadlines to ensure that the litigation continues to move forward without unnecessary delays.
This pathway is reserved for cases involving highly complex legal or factual issues, multiple parties or lawyers, numerous witnesses, voluminous documentary evidence, high interpersonal conflict, and other characteristics that indicate the case would benefit from close judicial supervision.

Mandatory disclosures must be made within 45 days of execution of the discovery protocol that include:

• the name, last-known title and dates of employment, if applicable, and, if known, the address and telephone number of each individual likely to have discoverable information—along with the subjects of that information—that the disclosing party may use to support its claims or defenses, unless the use would be solely for impeachment;
• a copy—or a description by category and location—of all documents, electronically stored information, and tangible things that the disclosing party has in its possession, custody, or control and may use to support its claims or defenses, unless the use would be solely for impeachment;
• a computation of each category of damages claimed by the disclosing party—who must also make available for inspection and copying as under Trial Rule 34 the documents or other evidentiary material, unless privileged or protected from disclosure, on which each computation is based, including materials bearing on the nature and extent of injuries suffered;
• for inspection and copying as under Trial Rule 34, any insurance agreement under which an insurance business may be liable to satisfy all or part of a possible judgment in the action or to indemnify or reimburse for payments made to satisfy the judgment; and
• documents that support any irreparable harm being alleged by the Plaintiff or any concerning any damages that Plaintiff is seeking in the Complaint.

No party shall serve more than: forty (40) interrogatories, forty (40) requests for production, and forty (40) requests for admission (excluding authenticating business records).  Sub-parts to interrogatories, requests for productions and requests for admission shall not be counted as part of the number served, provided that the subparts are related to the same topic (i.e., multiple questions within one question, such as 1(A)-(D))).

Each party is limited to not more than ten (10) depositions (excluding experts and parties or party representatives), with a seven-hour (7) limit for each deposition (unless the deposition is of an expert, a party, or a party representative).

General pathway

The General Pathway is for cases with characteristics making them inappropriate for either the Streamlined or Complex pathway. Cases in this category cannot be handled in a streamlined fashion; however, they do not require the same level of oversight as a complex case.

While this pathway is principally identified by what the case is not, the General Pathway is not another route to “litigation as we know it.”

Mandatory disclosures must be made within 45 days of execution of the discovery protocol that include:

• the name, last-known title and dates of employment, if applicable, and, if known, the address and telephone number of each individual likely to have discoverable information—along with the subjects of that information—that the disclosing party may use to support its claims or defenses, unless the use would be solely for impeachment;
• a copy—or a description by category and location—of all documents, electronically stored information, and tangible things that the disclosing party has in its possession, custody, or control and may use to support its claims or defenses, unless the use would be solely for impeachment;
• a computation of each category of damages claimed by the disclosing party—who must also make available for inspection and copying as under Ind. R. Trial P. 34 the documents or other evidentiary material, unless privileged or protected from disclosure, on which each computation is based, including materials bearing on the nature and extent of injuries suffered; and
• documents that support any irreparable harm being alleged by the Plaintiff or any concerning any damages that Plaintiff is seeking in the Complaint.

No party shall serve more than: twenty-five (25) interrogatories, twenty-five (25) requests for production, and twenty-five (25) requests for admission (excluding authenticating business records). Sub-parts to interrogatories, requests for productions and requests for admission shall not be counted as part of the number served, provided that the subparts are related to the same topic (i.e., multiple questions within one question, such as 1(A)-(D))).

Each party is limited to not more than five (5) depositions (excluding experts), with a three-hour (3) limit for each deposition (unless the deposition is of an expert, a party, or a party representative)

Changing pathways

Pathway assignment may be changed by court order upon a specific showing that a different pathway better fits the needs of the case and will not impose disproportionate burden, expense, or delay on any party.

A pathway should be changed if the judge notices, or a party provides, a specific showing that a different pathway better fits the needs of the case and will not impose disproportionate burden, expense, or delay on any party.

A streamlined case should be moved to general or complex, if:

• There are multiple claims or theories of relief.
• Substantial likelihood of substantive dispositive motions.
• Voluminous documentary evidence.
• High interpersonal conflict.
• Filing of a third-party claim.

A complex case should be moved to streamlined, if:

• It’s a routine issue related to liability and damages with few anticipated pretrial motions.
• Limited need for discovery.
• Few witnesses.

Discovery is tied into the pathway assigned

Complex and general cases will use both a case management plan and a discovery protocol that includes suggested limits on the number of written discovery requests and the duration of depositions. Streamlined cases should rarely need a case management plan or discovery protocol; if it appears that one may be needed, the judge should consider changing pathways.

Courts continue to have the ability to approve or reject any case management plan entered into by the parties, and, issues not resolved by agreement of the parties can be resolved by the court. Parties can agree to limits other than those included within the discovery protocol.

The pilot program will explore whether each pathway should include:

• A firm schedule of deadlines based on the date of service of the complaint;
• Mandatory exchange of supporting documents and identification of witnesses;
• Limits on written discovery requests and depositions;
• The relevant time period for all discovery is a period of six (6) years prior to the date of the adverse event/ action that forms the basis of the claim/counterclaim or defense, unless a different time is set by agreement of the parties or Court order.
• No general objections to discovery will be allowed. If a party objects to a discovery request, either in whole or in part, the objecting party must concisely state in detail the basis for the objection. If a party provides a partial or incomplete answer or response to a discovery request, the responding party must state specifically the reason that the answer or response is partial or incomplete.  Any general objections (e.g., an objection that does not specifically state the grounds on which it was based or an objection that applies globally, not to specific requests) will be stricken and have no effect.
• For discovery disputes, parties must either meet in person, virtually, or by phone; email discussion is insufficient to satisfy Trial Rule 26(F). If parties are unable to agree after a meeting in person or by phone, parties must then ask for a short virtual or telephonic meeting with the judge to try resolve the dispute before filing a written motion.
• Relief from discovery limitations subject to court approval upon:
  • the parties’ agreement or
  • a specific showing that the additional discovery is proportional to the needs of the case, considering the importance of the issues at stake in the action, the amount in controversy, the parties’ relative access to relevant information, the parties’ resources, the importance of the discovery in resolving the issues, and whether the burden or expense of the proposed discovery outweighs its likely benefit.
• There are no proposed limits on non-party discovery, however, a judge can add or approve limits in the discovery protocol.
• If there exists a conflict between the pilot judge’s county’s local rules and the pilot procedures, the pilot procedures control.