This is exciting! Today, the District Court posted the prospective 2026 update to the local rules, for public comment!
(Seriously! It doesn't happen all that often.)
So, what's new? A redline is available at the link above. From a very quick review, here are a few notable additions and changes. The new rules:
- Specifically ban "exactly 24 point" line spacing for briefs. Some attorneys had used this to try to fit more into the page limits. At least one judge had noticed this practice, and prohibited it. Now it will be clear that this is not allowed. I love this addition!
- Remove outdated provisions for filing a "memorandum of points and authorities" instead of a brief. This was rarely used and the rules about it were unclear.
- Spell out that notices of subsequent factual developments are permitted. This comes up a lot (including, for example, when IPR developments happen after a motion to stay pending IPR), and it was always unclear how to file these. Nice!
- State explicitly that notices of subsequent authority must be non-argumentative. Great! This was a frequent point of contention, and argumentative notices of subsequent authority never made any sense.
- Require a redline for a stipulated motion to amend. This is another good change - it was unclear whether the some of the judges wanted these or not.
- Remove the requirement that, when stipulating to extend the deadline for discovery, counsel must certify they have sent a copy of the request to the client. This was a great way to shoot yourself in the foot, and I'm glad they'll be removing it.
- State that the parties can agree on a deposition date to avoid LR 30.1's requirement of 10 days' notice for a deposition. This is how it worked in practice anyway, but it's nice to have it spelled out in the rule.
- Require a redline for disputed jury instructions. This makes sense.
- Require more clearly that attorneys who are admitted in the State of Delaware but do not maintain an office there must be admitted pro hac in District Court. I'm curious about what may have driven this clarification, but I haven't heard anything.
- Set new procedures for a bill of costs. Awesome! The previous rules were very outdated. From a quick glance, it looks like the updates bring these more in line with what is actually recoverable.
There are a few other minor updates and corrections as well.
All told, this is a solid update. There is nothing groundbreaking, but it will be certainly be nice to have some more clarity about notices of subsequent developments, and the line spacing requirements.
Looking back at my original post about potential adjustments to the new local rules back in 2022, only a few of my ideas made it in. Maybe next time! I've heard rumblings that the Advisory Committee is looking at the transcript redaction procedures next—those could certainly use an update.
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