TITLE SIX — TRIAL
Rule 29. Consolidation; Separate Trials
Consolidation. If actions pending before the court involve a common question of law or fact, the court may:
join for hearing or trial any or all matters at issue in the actions;
consolidate the actions in whole or for a limited purpose; or
issue any other order to avoid unnecessary cost or delay.
Procedure.
How Sought. Consolidation may be ordered on the motion of any party to any of the actions or by the court on its own. A motion shall be filed in each action sought to be consolidated, because the electronic filing system attaches every filing to a single case and provides no means by which one filing appears upon two dockets.
Notice; Hearing. The court shall give every party to every affected action notice and an opportunity to be heard before ordering consolidation, except where every party has stipulated to it.
Same Court. Actions shall not be consolidated unless they are pending in the same court. Actions pending in the Superior Court and in the Supreme Court shall not be consolidated.
Order. An order of consolidation shall be entered upon the docket of each affected action and shall state the extent of the consolidation, the lead case, the caption to be used, and the schedule that thereafter governs.
The Lead Case.
Designation. In every order of consolidation for trial the court shall designate one action as the lead case, identified by its case number.
Filing After Consolidation. After consolidation for trial, every filing addressed to the consolidated proceeding shall be filed in the lead case. A filing addressed to a matter peculiar to one action alone shall be filed in that action.
Proceeding Communications. The court shall designate the proceeding communications of the lead case as the proceeding communications of the consolidated proceeding, and shall enter that designation upon the docket of each affected action.
Docket. Each action other than the lead case remains open upon the docket until it is finally disposed of. The Clerk shall note the consolidation upon the docket of each action. The electronic filing system provides no means of merging cases, and no order of consolidation shall be construed to direct one.
Separate Trials. For convenience, to avoid prejudice, or to expedite and economize, the court may order a separate trial of one or more separate issues, claims, cross-claims, counterclaims, or third-party claims, or of the claims of or against any party. In ordering a separate trial the court shall preserve any right of trial by jury conferred by a statute of this State, as Rule 27.1 provides.
Separate Trial of Liability and of Damages. The court may order that the issue of liability be tried before the issue of damages. Where liability is determined against the claimant, the court shall enter judgment and no trial of damages shall be had. Where liability is determined for the claimant, the court shall proceed to try damages before the same trier of fact unless the court orders otherwise for good cause.
Effect of Consolidation. Consolidation does not merge the actions into one, does not make a party to one action a party to another, and does not alter the rights of any party. Unless the court orders otherwise, the court shall enter a separate judgment in each consolidated action.
Deconsolidation. On motion or on its own, the court may at any time vacate or modify an order of consolidation and direct that the actions proceed separately. The order shall be entered upon the docket of each affected action and shall state where subsequent filings are to be made.
Schedule. Upon consolidating actions the court shall fix a single schedule governing the consolidated proceeding, and may enlarge or shorten any period otherwise applicable under Rule 6, so that the periods running in the several actions do not conflict.
Relation to Other Rules. The consolidation of a hearing upon an application for a preliminary injunction with the trial on the merits is governed by Rule 47(2)(b). The joinder of claims and of parties is governed by Rules 15, 17.1, and 17.2, and this rule does not enlarge or restrict them.