On December 15, 2015, several amendments to the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure are scheduled to take effect, including one which may assist employers to reduce the cost of defending class actions. The scope of permissible discovery under Rule 26 will no longer be defined as “reasonably calculated to lead to the discovery of admissible evidence.” Amended Rule 26(b)(1) will instead require discovery to be proportional to the needs of the case. Parties may obtain discovery that is relevant to any party’s claim or defense and proportional to the needs of the case, with consideration of the following five factors: (1) the importance of the issues at stake in the action; (2) the parties’ relative access to relevant information; (3) the parties’ resources; (4) the importance of the discovery in resolving the issues; and (5) whether the burden or expense of the proposed discovery outweighs its likely benefit.
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