Growing up my older brother played hockey, so of course I did too. One perk of being a squirt (that’s a hockey term) was trips to the old Boston Garden to watch the Boston Bruins. Tradition held that if a Bruins player scored a hat trick (three goals), fans had free rein to throw their hats onto the ice. The old Boston Garden was built for boxing and many seats were right over the rink. For hat trick purposes, this meant a lot fans could easily reach the ice with their hats, aerodynamics be damned. Whenever a Bruin scored a hat trick, hundreds of hats flew from the rafters and the Garden shook. As a youngster, or more precisely, a squirt, this caused me to ask several questions. Did people specifically bring hats to games just in case a player scored a hat trick? Would they still throw the hat if it was their favorite hat? And what did the Boston Garden staff do with all those hats?
This week, Judge Licht entered three civil calendar orders for motion practice in Kent County – one on dispositive motions, the second on non-dispositive motions, and the third on motions for the formal and special cause calendar. (For a list of all orders by county, click here, and for a description of the different calendars, click here). Reading over the orders, if I wore a hat to the Kent County civil courtroom (not something you should ever do), I would throw that hat (again, a serious no-no in a courtroom) in honor of a hat trick. Each of the orders should make things efficient and lower litigation costs in Kent County.
Starting with the non-dispositive motion calendar, the new Kent County order mimics parts of the standing order in Providence County. The new Kent County order requires litigants to e-mail the clerk before the hearing date and designate the motion with calls such as formal, ready or order to enter (click here for descriptions of these terms), and sets specific times for certain types of motions. This will remove the call of the calendar on motion day and better organize attorneys’ time.
The new Kent County order on dispositive motions puts things in line with the existing order in Providence County. One of the biggest changes between the new Kent County order and the old Kent County order is that the new one requires that objections must be filed within 21 days of the filing of the motion (instead of 14 days prior to the hearing date under the old order). This will probably make it much easier for the judge to prepare for the hearing, and will lead to less waste of judicial and litigant resources, because the new order requires parties to request continuances of the hearing at least two weeks ahead of time. The end result will probably be less docket clutter on important dispositive motions and increased focus on the matters actually teed up for hearing.
Finally, the new Kent County order for the formal and special cause calendar is the first of its kind in Kent County, and it largely tracks the formal and special cause order that Judge Licht entered while sitting in Providence County. The new Kent County order authorizes litigants to pick a hearing date without seeking advance approval from the clerk as long as it’s at least two weeks out. This means no more contacting the clerk for routine matters. One significant change from Judge Licht’s Providence order is the Kent County order requires litigants to deliver bench copies of the memorandum with exhibits and primary cases for all types of motions. This will likely make it easier for the judge to prepare and lead to faster and more focused hearings.
Three cheers for good things that come in threes. As Rhode Island’s-own Jim Martin might say — he’s the Boston Bruins’ public address announcer during games and the Public Information Officer for the U.S Attorney’s Office in Rhode Island — “Woo!“