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Rule 130 – Purpose, Scope, and Other Rules

May 13, 2021 | Civil Procedure, Maine

(a) Purpose and Scope. The Business and Consumer Docket Procedural Rules (referred to herein as the BCD Procedural Rules) are established to promote the purpose and goals of the Business and Consumer Docket (BCD) and to facilitate the proceedings of all cases placed on the BCD.

(1)Statewide Docket; Management. The BCD shall be a statewide docket of selected actions involving business and/or consumer disputes, and shall be managed by judges or justices from either trial court designated by the Chief Justice of the Supreme Judicial Court.
(2)Goals. The goals of the BCD are to provide predictable judicial action in selected cases involving business and/or consumer disputes, avoid placing unnecessary burdens on the court and the litigants in such cases, keep litigation costs reasonable, and promote an effective and efficient process for resolving such disputes.
(3)Eligibility for Transfer. Cases that may be considered for transfer to the BCD include pending and new jury and nonjury civil actions and family matters that focus on a business dispute, in which (A) the principal claim or claims involve matters of significance to the transactions, operations, or governance of a business entity and/or the rights of a consumer arising out of transactions or other dealings with a business entity; and (B) the case requires specialized and differentiated judicial management.
(b) Integration with Other Rules. The BCD Procedural Rules supplement and modify other Maine Rules of Civil Procedure, including the Family Division rules, M.R. Civ. P. 100 et seq., and the Maine Rules of Electronic Court Systems. Unless modified by the BCD Procedural Rules, all other Maine Rules of Civil Procedure are applicable to cases on the BCD, consistent with the purpose and goals of the BCD.

Me. R. Civ. P. 130

Adopted June 19, 2014, effective September 1, 2014; amended November 3, 2020, effective November 30, 2020.

Advisory Note – November 2020

Rule 130(a)(1) is amended to remove the word “comprised.”

Rule 130(b) is amended to refer to the Maine Rules of Electronic Court Systems.