Discovery Motions and E-Discovery
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Discovery Motions
The Court believes that parties can and should work out most discovery disputes, and thus discourages the filing of discovery motions. The Court will not hear or consider any discovery motions unless the parties have complied with the meet and confer requirement under Local Rule 37.2. Any discovery motion must state with specificity when and how the movant complied with Local Rule 37.2.
Parties are reminded that compliance with Local Rule 37.2 requires a good faith effort to resolve discovery disputes and, other than in exceptional circumstances, communication that takes place face to face or by telephone. The mere exchange of correspondence will not normally be sufficient to comply with Local Rule 37.2.
If the parties do not resolve their disagreements through this procedure, the parties must file a joint motion of no more than five pages. The joint motion must set out each issue in a separate section and include in that section each party’s position (with appropriate legal authority) and proposed compromise. (This process allows a side-by-side analysis of each disputed issue.) If the disagreement concerns specific discovery that a party has propounded, such as interrogatories, requests for production of documents, or answers or objections to such discovery, the parties must reproduce the question/request and the response in its entirety in that section. The entire disputed discovery responses should be attached as an exhibit to the motion.
All parties must be fully prepared to orally argue any discovery motion on the date that it is presented. The Court most often will decide discovery motions after oral argument at the motion call and without additional briefing. If after argument the Court believes that the motion requires further briefing, the Court normally will set an expedited briefing schedule so that the matter can be resolved promptly.
The Court reminds the parties that there is no "order" or sequence in which discovery must take place; thus, one party’s alleged failure or inability to respond to discovery will not excuse any other party’s prompt compliance with discovery requests. The Court also reminds parties that the pendency of a motion, such as a motion to dismiss, does not – absent court order – operate as a stay of discovery.
E-Discovery
If the parties have reached an impasse regarding the discovery of voluminous records from a database, server, computer, service provider or similar electronic storage facility (ESF), before filing a motion to compel, the parties are required to meet and confer with an IT representative of the ESF to be searched in order to determine the most effective way to retrieve the requested material. The party seeking the discovery should also bring its IT specialist to this meeting in order to discuss the proper format for the retrieval of the records. This electronic discovery conference must take place in person and both sides should be prepared to discuss specifically the parameters of both the search and the ESF.
For more information regarding the Voluntary E-Mediation Program, please refer to: http://www.discoverypilot.com/content/e-mediation-program.
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