Five Things to Know About the Amendments to the Eighth Judicial District Court Rules

Jeffrey Luszeck Partner

On April 26, 2024, the Supreme Court of Nevada adopted amendments to the Eighth Judicial Dis trict Court Rules (“EDCR”), through ADKT 0612, which became effective on June 25, 2024. While the amendments are extensive and cannot fully be addressed in a single article, here are five noteworthy changes:

1. 1. EDCR 2.34 & 5.402. Discovery disputes; conferences; motions; stays: The amendments required: (a) counsel to discuss discovery issues, during a dispute resolution conference, “with the same level of detail and legal support as is con tained in their briefing before the court;” and (b) the affidavit accompanying the discovery motion to detail the specifics of the dispute resolution conference (i.e., the who, what, when, where, and why), which acts as a codification of Alboum v. Koe, M.D., et al., Discovery Commissioner Opin ion #10 (November 2001).
   2. EDCR 2.35. Extension of discovery deadlines: Previously, EDCR 2.35(a) stated that a stipulation or motion to extend any date set by the discovery scheduling order must be filed before the discovery cut-off date or any extension thereof. Some prac titioners interpreted that to mean that they could file a stipulation or motion to extend discovery 21 days before the close of discovery and then re-open discovery deadlines that had already passed. The amendment to EDCR 2.35(a) clarifies that the 21-
      day filing deadline is “before the earliest discovery deadline for which an extension is sought,” as op posed to the discovery cut-off date.
   3. Changes to EDCR Part IV: There were numer ous amendments and changes to the probate rules, in Part IV, which include, but are not limited to: (a) confirming that the probate judge has the abili ty to “affirm, reverse, or modify” the probate com missioner’s report and recommendations, with or without oral argument (EDCR 4.07(c)(1)); (b) granting the probate judge discretion to retain a case after a contested matter is heard (EDCR 4.08(a)); (c) requiring a request to transfer a matter to the probate judge to be filed no later than 4:00 p.m. on the Friday prior to the week the matter is scheduled to be heard (EDCR 4.08(b)); (d) requir ing a motion for relief, pursuant to NRCP 65, to be heard and considered by the assigned probate judge, as opposed to the probate commissioner (EDCR 4.08(c)); and (5) requiring certain infor mation to be included in affidavits accompanying discovery motions (EDCR 4.18(3)).
   4. EDCR 7.70. Voir dire examination: This amend ment changed the deadline to submit proposed voir dire questions to the court to: “no later than the calendar call/final pretrial conference in accor dance with EDCR 2.68-2.69.” Furthermore, after the judge conducts the initial voir dire direct ex amination of prospective jurors, counsel “must” be permitted to supplement the judge’s examination.