- ABOUT
- SERVICES
- WRITING SAMPLES
- RESOURCES
- TESTIMONIALS
- COSTS
- BLOG
- CONTACT
An amendment to Massachusetts Superior Court Rule 9A(a)(3), effective January 1, 2016, allows litigants to file certain reply memoranda without first obtaining the court’s permission, and changes the procedure for obtaining leave of court where permission is still required.
Under the current Rule 9A, a party seeking to file a reply memorandum must seek leave of court to do so, “within 5 days of service of a memorandum in opposition” by sending, “a letter to the Session Judge setting forth the grounds to support the request” and serving that letter on all other parties. Any such reply must, “be limited to addressing matters raised in the opposition that were not and could not reasonably have been addressed in the moving party’s initial memorandum.”
Amended Rule 9A(a)(3) no longer requires a party to obtain the court’s permission before filing a reply memorandum if: (1) “the opposition raises matters that were not and could not reasonably have been addressed in the moving party’s initial memorandum”; (2) the reply is “limited to addressing such matters”; and (3) the reply does not, “exceed five typed double-spaced pages.”
The amendment states that “[n]o other reply or surreply shall be allowed without leave of court, which is strongly disfavored,” and changes the procedure for requesting such leave. First, a request for leave is no longer in the form of a letter but must, instead, be captioned as a pleading. The amendment also limits the length of the request to, “not more than one double-spaced page.” Finally, the request must be addressed to “Session Clerk, ATTN: Session Judge,” rather than directly to the judge.
A reply memorandum is most appropriate when the moving party seeks to respond to new matters (factual or legal), raised by the party opposing the motion. The 2016 amendment to Rule 9A(a)(3) simplifies the process for filing such a reply.
Massachusetts attorney Roger T. Manwaring and Lawyers’ Legal Research & Writing provide high quality, cost-effective legal research and writing to attorneys in private and corporate practice. Learn more about our services or contact Attorney Manwaring to discuss your case.
The initial consultation is always free.
Lawyers' Legal Research and Writing (LLRW) provides legal services only to other Massachusetts attorneys and does not enter into any relationship with the clients of the attorneys to whom it provides services. This Website presents general information about LLRW and is not intended as legal advice, nor should you consider it such. The articles and blog entries on this site are neither advice nor opinion on specific legal questions, but are furnished only as general information on areas of interest. The applicability of the legal principles discussed in the articles, blog entries or elsewhere on this Website may differ widely in specific situations. LLRW uses reasonable efforts in researching, collecting, preparing and providing quality information and material on this Website, but LLRW does not warrant or guarantee the accuracy, completeness, adequacy, appropriateness, applicability or currency of the information contained in this Website. THE MATERIALS IN THIS WEBSITE ARE PROVIDED “AS IS” AND WITHOUT WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND. This Website may constitute attorney advertising.
Lawyer's Legal Research © 2020 All Rights Reserved. | Online presence by Cloud a la Carte. Photographs of Roger Manwaring by David Parnes Photography.