Rule 3.1348
Sanctions for failure to provide discovery
Particular Motions
(a) Sanctions despite no opposition
The court may award sanctions under the Discovery Act in favor of a party who files a motion to compel discovery, even though no opposition to the motion was filed, or opposition to the motion was withdrawn, or the requested discovery was provided to the moving party after the motion was filed.
(b) Failure to oppose not an admission
The failure to file a written opposition or to appear at a hearing or the voluntary provision of discovery shall not be deemed an admission that the motion was proper or that sanctions should be awarded.
If you file a motion to compel discovery (asking the court to force the other side to hand over information), the court can still make the other side pay sanctions even if they give you the information after you file the motion. The court can also award sanctions if the other side never bothered to fight your motion or later dropped their opposition to it.
However, just because someone did not oppose a motion or showed up to the hearing does not mean they are automatically admitting they did something wrong. It also does not mean the court will automatically award sanctions. The judge still decides whether sanctions are fair based on the situation.
The main takeaway is that you cannot avoid penalties just by handing over documents at the last minute or by staying quiet when a motion is filed against you. The court has the power to look at what happened and decide if the other side should pay for making you go through the trouble of filing the motion in the first place.
Summary generated March 14, 2026
No committee notes available for this rule.
Rule 3.1348 renumbered effective January 1, 2009; adopted as rule 341 effective July 1, 2001; previously renumbered as rule 3.1030 effective January 1, 2007. Title 3, Civil Rules-Division 11, Law and Motion-Chapter 6, Particular Motions-Article 5, Summary Judgment Motions renumbered effective January 1, 2009; adopted as article 4 effective January 1, 2007.
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