804.01 (2) (am) Limitations. Upon the motion of any party, the court shall limit the frequency or extent of discovery if it determines that one of the following applies:
1. The discovery sought is cumulative or duplicative, or can be obtained from some other source that is more convenient, less burdensome, or less expensive.
2. The burden or expense of the proposed discovery outweighs its likely benefit or is not proportional to the claims and defenses at issue considering the needs of the case, the amount in controversy, the parties' resources, the complexity and importance of the issues at stake in the action, and the importance of discovery in resolving the issues.
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12. 804.01 (2) (bg) of the statutes is created to read:
804.01 (2) (bg) Third party agreements. Except as otherwise stipulated or ordered by the court, a party shall, without awaiting a discovery request, provide to the other parties any agreement under which any person, other than an attorney permitted to charge a contingent fee representing a party, has a right to receive compensation that is contingent on and sourced from any proceeds of the civil action, by settlement, judgment, or otherwise.
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Section
13. 804.01 (2) (e) 1. of the statutes is renumbered 804.01 (2) (e) 1r.
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Section
14. 804.01 (2) (e) 1g. of the statutes is created to read:
804.01 (2) (e) 1g. A party is not required to provide discovery of any of the following categories of electronically stored information absent a showing by the moving party of substantial need and good cause, subject to a proportionality assessment under par. (am) 2.:
a. Data that cannot be retrieved without substantial additional programming or without transforming it into another form before search and retrieval can be achieved.
b. Backup data that are substantially duplicative of data that are more accessible elsewhere.
c. Legacy data remaining from obsolete systems that are unintelligible on successor systems.
d. Any other data that are not available to the producing party in the ordinary course of business and that the party identifies as not reasonably accessible because of undue burden or cost. In response to a motion to compel discovery or for a protective order, the party from whom discovery is sought is required to show that the information is not reasonably accessible because of undue burden or cost. If that showing is made, the court may order discovery from such sources only if the requesting party shows good cause, considering the limitations of par. (am). The court may specify conditions for the discovery.
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15. 804.01 (2) (e) 2. of the statutes is amended to read:
804.01 (2) (e) 2. If a party fails or refuses to confer as required by subd. 1. 1r., any party may move the court for relief under s. 804.12 (1).
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Section
16. 804.01 (2) (e) 3. of the statutes is amended to read:
804.01 (2) (e) 3. If after conferring as required by subd. 1. 1r., any party objects to any proposed request for discovery of electronically stored information or objects to any response under s. 804.08 (3) proposing the production of electronically stored information, the objecting party may move the court for an appropriate order under sub. (3).
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Section
17. 804.01 (3) (a) 2. of the statutes is amended to read:
804.01 (3) (a) 2. That the discovery may be had only on specified by specifying terms
and conditions, including a designation of the time or
and place or the allocation of expenses, for the disclosure or discovery;
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Section
18. 804.01 (4) of the statutes is amended to read:
804.01 (4) Sequence and timing of discovery. Unless the parties stipulate or the court upon motion, for the convenience of parties and witnesses and in the interests of justice, orders otherwise, methods of discovery may be used in any sequence and the fact that a party is conducting discovery, whether by deposition or otherwise, shall not operate to delay any other party's discovery.
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Section
20. 804.045 of the statutes is created to read:
804.045 Limits on quantity of depositions. A party shall be limited, unless otherwise stipulated or ordered by the court in a manner consistent with s. 804.01 (2), to a reasonable number of depositions, not to exceed 10 depositions, none of which may exceed 7 hours in duration.
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Section
21. 804.08 (1) (am) of the statutes is created to read:
804.08 (1) (am) A party shall be limited, unless otherwise stipulated or ordered by the court in a manner consistent with s. 804.01 (2), to a reasonable number of requests, not to exceed 25 interrogatories, including all subparts.
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Section
22. 804.09 (2) (a) of the statutes is renumbered 804.09 (2) (a) (intro.) and amended to read:
804.09 (2) (a) (intro.) Except as provided in s. 804.015, the request may, without leave of court, be served upon the plaintiff after commencement of the action and upon any other party with or after service of the summons and complaint upon that party, and shall meet all of the following criteria:
1. The request shall describe with reasonable particularity each item or category of items to be inspected.
2. The request shall specify a reasonable time, place, and manner of making the inspection and performing the related acts.
4. The request may specify the form or forms in which electronically stored information is to be produced.
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Section
23. 804.09 (2) (a) 3. of the statutes is created to read:
804.09 (2) (a) 3. The request shall be limited, unless otherwise stipulated or ordered by the court in a manner consistent with s. 804.01 (2), to a reasonable time period, not to exceed 5 years prior to the accrual of the cause of action. The limitation in this subdivision does not apply to requests for patient health care records, as defined in s. 146.81 (4), vocational records, educational records, or any other similar records.
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Section
24. 804.09 (2) (b) 1. of the statutes is amended to read:
804.09 (2) (b) 1. The party upon whom the request is served shall serve a written response within 30 days after the service of the request, except that a defendant may serve a response within 45 days after service of the summons and complaint upon that defendant. The court may allow a shorter or longer time. The response shall state, with respect to each item or category, that inspection and related activities will be permitted as requested, unless or state with specificity the grounds for objecting to the request is objected to, in which event the reasons for objection shall be stated. If objection is made to part of an item or category, the part shall be specified. The response may state an objection to a requested form for producing electronically stored information. If the responding party objects to a requested form, or if no form was specified in the request, the party shall state the form or forms it intends to use. The responding party may state that it will produce copies of documents or of electronically stored information instead of permitting inspection. The production shall be completed no later than the time for inspection specified in the request or another reasonable time specified in the request or another reasonable time specified in the response.
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Section
25. 804.12 (1) (a) of the statutes is amended to read:
804.12 (1) (a) Motion. If a deponent fails to answer a question propounded or submitted under s. 804.05 or 804.06, or a corporation or other entity fails to make a designation under s. 804.05 (2) (e) or 804.06 (1), or a party fails to answer an interrogatory submitted under s. 804.08, or if a party, in response to a request for inspection submitted under s. 804.09, fails to produce documents or fails to respond that inspection will be permitted as requested or fails to permit inspection as requested, the discovering party may move for an order compelling an answer, or a designation, or an order compelling inspection in accordance with the request. When taking a deposition on oral examination, the proponent of the question may complete or adjourn the examination before he or she applies for an order. If the court denies the motion in whole or in part, it may make such protective order as it would have been empowered to make on a motion made pursuant to s. 804.01 (3).
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Section
26. 893.53 of the statutes is amended to read:
893.53 Action for injury to character or other rights. An action to recover damages for an injury to the character or rights of another, not arising on contract, shall be commenced within 6 3 years after the cause of action accrues, except where a different period is expressly prescribed, or be barred.
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Section
27. 893.89 (1) of the statutes is amended to read:
893.89 (1) In this section, “exposure period" means the 10 7 years immediately following the date of substantial completion of the improvement to real property.
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Section
28. 893.89 (3) (b) of the statutes is amended to read:
893.89 (3) (b) If, as the result of a deficiency or defect in an improvement to real property, a person sustains damages during the period beginning on the first day of the 8th 5th year and ending on the last day of the 10th 7th year after the substantial completion of the improvement to real property, the time for commencing the action for the damages is extended for 3 years after the date on which the damages occurred.
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Section
29. 893.93 (1) (a) of the statutes is renumbered 893.93 (1m) (a).
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Section
30. 893.93 (1) (b) of the statutes is renumbered 893.93 (1m) (b).
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Section
31. 893.93 (1) (cm) of the statutes is created to read:
893.93 (1) (cm) An action under s. 218.0125 (7) or 218.0126.
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Section
32. 893.93 (1m) (intro.) of the statutes is created to read:
893.93 (1m) (intro.) The following actions shall be commenced within 3 years after the cause of action accrues or be barred:
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Section
33.
Initial applicability.
(1) Third-party audits. The treatment of section 177.30 (6) of the statutes first applies to a contract or agreement that is entered into, renewed, or modified on the effective date of this subsection.
(2) Discovery procedures. The treatment of sections 802.06 (1) (b), 804.01 (1), (2) (am), (bg), and (e) 1g., (3) (a) 2., and (4), 804.045, 804.08 (1) (am), 804.09 (2) (b) 1., and 804.12 (1) (a) of the statutes, the renumbering and amendment of section 804.09 (2) (a) of the statutes, and the creation of section 804.09 (2) (a) 3. of the statutes first apply to actions that are filed on July 1, 2018.
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Section
34.
Effective dates. This act takes effect on the day after publication, except as follows:
(1) Class actions. The treatment of section 803.08 (11) of the statutes takes effect on July 1, 2018.
