When Macau’s civil procedural rules were codified at the end of 1999, the lawmakers did not make a radical change to the then-existing structure inherited from Portugal. An important guiding principle of ‘formal adequacy’ was introduced. This contribution explains how the introduction of the formal adequacy principle transformed the case management landscape in Macau. The formal adequacy principle alleviates the procedural rigidity of the past and provides that when a procedure established by law does not fit the specific details of an individual case, the judge should, either at the request of the parties or sua sponte, determine the best procedural arrangements for the case.