The Colorado Supreme Court recently adopted some changes to the Colorado Rules of Civil Procedure. Some of the changes are highlighted below.

The following changes are effective for motions filed on or after April 1, 2016.

Language has been added to C.R.C.P. 10 (Form and Quality of Pleadings, Motions and Other Documents) to clarify that 12 point font size also applies to footnotes. In addition, motions are required to be double-spaced, instead of single-spaced. 

The following word limits have been imposed in C.R.C.P. 121, § 1-15 (Determination of Motions):

…Unless the court orders otherwise, motions and responsive briefs not under C.R.C.P. 12(b)(1) or (2), or 56 are limited to 15 pages (but not more than 4,000 words), and reply briefs to 10 pages (but not more than 2,500 words), not including the case caption, signature block, certificate of service and attachments. Unless the court orders otherwise, motions and responsive briefs under C.R.C.P. 12(b)(1) or (2) or 56 are limited to 25 pages (but not more than 6,500 words), and reply briefs to 15 pages (but not more than 4,000 words), not including the case caption, signature block, certificate of service and attachments. All motions and briefs shall be double-spaced, except for footnotes and quotes.

Furthermore, C.R.C.P. 121, § 1-15(1)(d) provides that a motion cannot be included as part of a response or reply.

C.R.C.P. 121, § 1-12 (Matters Related to Discovery) has been revised to address situations when the court requires an oral discovery motion. Specifically, when the court directs that a discovery motion be made orally under Rule 26(c), the discovery is stayed once the movant has provided written notice that a hearing has been requested.  In addition, there is a duty to confer before filing a notice of hearing of an oral discovery motion under Rule 37(a).

There were a few more changes to the civil rules with various effective dates, including but not limited to the rules regarding class actions and garnishments. A link to a redline of the changes can be found here.