Court document · Class Actions / Representative Proceedings
Rule 26(f) report for a putative class action
Rule 26(f) discovery plan for a putative class action, including whether certification discovery and merits discovery should be phased, and how class-member data will be handled.
- Kind
- Court document. A document filed or served in a court or tribunal.
- Where it applies
- United States
- AI use
- Yellow You and the tool draft together, with you directing. You check every statement you rely on.
- Law stated as at
- 22 October 2026
- Status
- Maintained. Checked on 22 October 2026 against the 4 authorities it cites, for United States.
- Version
- 1
- Source
- Written for this library
When to use it
Use after the parties have conferred under Rule 26(f) in a case pleaded as a class action. Do not file it before the conference. The certification decision is the court's, under Rule 23(c)(1).
Used for these tasks
- Prepare the respondent’s readiness note for the first case management hearing
- Draft the group or class definition from the claim theory
- Run a first-pass review of the large discovery set
Each task page says how far AI may help with the task and what the lawyer must review.
How AI may be used
AI may assemble the report from the conference notes and the complaint. The lawyer settles each side's position on phasing and on certification discovery.
AI may
- Place the conference notes under the Rule 26(f)(3) headings and mark agreed versus disputed
- Quote the pleaded class definition into the report
- Flag a certification topic the notes do not address, such as the data that shows numerosity
AI must not
- Must not state that a class will be certified or that a phase has been agreed if the notes do not say so
- Must not draft class notice under Rule 23(c)(2)(B) inside this report
- Must not sign or file the report
The lawyer checks
- Phasing is stated as a proposal unless the notes record agreement
- The class definition matches the pleading
- Dates are checked against Rule 16(b)(2) and the judge's order
Method: how the Green, Yellow and Red levels are decided. This is guidance for planning, not legal advice.
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More in Class Actions / Representative Proceedings
- First case management hearing: costs disclosure and readiness note (Federal Court class action)
- Opt-out notice, notice distribution plan and settlement-notice checklist (Federal Court class action)
- Retainer letter and conditional costs agreement for a representative applicant (Federal Court class action)
- Class-action litigation hold notice
- Competing class actions: comparison note for the carriage or selection hearing
- Litigation funding agreement and costs review checklist (including common fund orders and Victorian group costs orders)
- Pre-filing memo: Part IVA threshold requirements and class definition
- Opt-out register against the Court's date and Form 21 (Federal Court class action)
- Settlement approval application checklist (Federal Court class action, s 33V and GPN-CA)
- Settlement distribution scheme (with safeguards for technology-assisted claims assessment)
- Stipulated protective order for class-member data
- Periodic update letter to group members (clients and registered group members)
- Letter to the respondent's lawyers about communications with class members
- Opt-out notice distribution plan (Federal Court class action, GPN-CA Part 12)
- Deposition outline: class representative and Rule 30(b)(6)
- Group costs order: comparison note before a Victorian s 33ZDA application
- Group member registration and intake protocol (including AI triage of registrations)
- Prompt template with guardrails: reconciling registrations to the class definition
All precedents for Class Actions / Representative Proceedings · Tasks and AI use in this area