October 21, 1997



96-58



Amendment of 
Rule 9.115 of the
Michigan Court Rules
___________________________________


               On order of the Court, notice of a proposed amendment having
been provided, 454 Mich 1212 (1997), and consideration having
been given to the comments received in response to that notice,
the following amendment to Rule 9.115 of the Michigan Court Rules
is adopted, effective April 1, 1998.


[The present language is to be repealed and replaced by
the following language unless otherwise indicated
below.]                       


Rule 9.115                                                  Hearing Panel Procedure

(A) - (E)  [Unchanged.]

(F)            Prehearing Procedure.

(1) - (3)  [Unchanged.]

(4)            Discovery.  Pretrial or discovery proceedings are
               not permitted, except as follows:

(a)            [Unchanged.]

(b)            Within 21 days of the service of a formal
               complaint, a party may demand in writing that
               the opposing party supply written
               notification of the name and address of any
               person to be called as a witness.  Within 14
               days after the service of a written demand,
               the notification shall be supplied.  However,
               the administrator need not comply prior to
               the filing of the respondent's answer to the
               formal complaint; in such cases, the
               administrator shall comply with the written
               demand within 14 days of the filing of the
               respondent's answer to the formal complaint. 
               The respondent shall comply with the written
               demand within 14 days, except that the
               respondent need not comply until the time for
               filing an answer to the formal complaint has
               expired.  Except for good cause shown, a
               party who is required to give said
               notification must give supplemental notice to
               the adverse party within 7 days after any
               additional witness has been identified, and
               must give the supplemental notice immediately
               if the additional witness is identified less
               than 14 days before a scheduled hearing.

Upon receipt of a demand made pursuant to
this rule, a party must also provide to the
other party any statements given by witnesses
to be called at the hearing.  Witness
statements include stenographic, recorded, or
written statements of witnesses provided to
the administrator, the respondent, or the
respondent's representative.  The term
"written statement" does not include notes or
memoranda prepared by a party or a party's
representative of conversations with
witnesses, or other privileged information.

(c) - (d)  [Unchanged.]

If a party fails to comply with subrule (F)(4)(a)
or (b), the hearing panel or the board may, on
motion and showing of material prejudice as a
result of the failure, impose one or more of the
sanctions set forth in MCR 2.313(B)(2)(a)-(c).

               (5)            [Unchanged.]

(G) - (M)  [Unchanged.]


STAFF COMMENT:  The 1997 amendment of the rule, which took
effect April 1, 1998, added a second paragraph to MCR
9.115(F)(4)(b).  The change, which was recommended by the State
Bar of Michigan, permits reciprocal discovery of witness
statements in lawyer discipline proceedings.

               The staff comment is published only for the
benefit of the bench and bar and is not an
authoritative construction by the Court.