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Discovery

CM/ECF should not be used for filing routine discovery requests, responses, or Rule 26(a) disclosures. See Local Rule 104.5. Notices or Certificates of Service of discovery materials should also not be filed with the Clerk’s Office.

Procedures for electronic filing of other documents related to discovery are outlined below.

Motion for Leave to Take Deposition

If by statute, rule, or court order, Court approval is required before taking a deposition, you may file a Motion for Leave to take deposition. Choose Motions from the main civil menu and select Take Deposition. Follow the standard filing procedure.

Motion to Compel Discovery

(No response has been received by a party concerning deposition questions or the request was directed to a non-party)

  1. From the Civil menu click Motions, then choose Compel.  Follow the standard filing procedure, except as below in steps 2 and 3.
  2. After selecting your motion, be sure to attach your Local Rule 104.7 certification. If the certification is not attached, the Court may direct your motion be marked “filed in error” and not consider it.
  3. When you reach the Modify Docket text screen, type in Discovery and any additional information you want to include in the docket entry.  

Motion to Compel Discovery

(A response has been received from a party but is not considered satisfactory)

If a party who has propounded interrogatories or requests for production is dissatisfied with the response to them and has been unable to resolve informally (by oral or written communications) any disputes with the responding party, that party must serve a motion to compel within thirty days of the party's receipt of the response.

The memorandum in support of the motion must set forth, as to each response to which the motion is directed, the discovery request, the response thereto, and the asserted basis for the insufficiency of the response. The memorandum must be succinct and need not include citation to legal authorities unless such citation is necessary in order to understand the issues presented.

The opposing party must serve a memorandum in opposition to the motion within fourteen days thereafter. The moving party must serve any reply memorandum within fourteen days thereafter.

The parties must serve motions and memoranda under L.R. 104.8 in accordance with Fed. R. Civ. P. 5(a).  However, neither motions nor related notices of service of these motions should be served through this Court’s electronic filing system or filed with the Clerk’s Office. Extensions of time given by the parties to one another to serve any discovery document need not be approved by the Court, provided that no extension of time limits set in any scheduling order entered by the Court are made without the Court's prior approval.

If the dispute is not resolved by the conference required by Local Rule 104.7, the party seeking to compel discovery may present the remaining issues to the Court for resolution by first filing a 104.7 Certificate as follows:

  1. From the Civil menu click Other Documents, then choose Local Rule.
  2. Enter your case number, 
  3. Docket the Local Rule 104.7 certificate as your main document.
  4. Docket any motion and memorandum previously served by the parties under Local Rule 104.8 as an attachment to the main document, Local Rule 104.7 certificate.
  5. Type 104.7 Certificate in the Local Rule text box.
  6. Click Next to complete the filing.