The New World of Natural Resources and Environmental Litigation--How the Rules of Evidence and Procedure Have Changed

This paper is divided into two sections. Part I reviews the recently revised Federal Rules of Civil Procedure with a focus primarily on discovery and voluntary disclosures. Part II reviews the relevance and admissibility of expert opinion evidence post-Daubert. Effective December 1, 1993, the United States Supreme Court implemented major revisions to the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure. The most significant changes affect the pretrial discovery process. This paper will identify the changes, and will address the legal and practical effects on preparing cases for trial.