Local Rule LCR 37: FAILURE TO MAKE DISCLOSURE OR COOPERATE IN DISCOVERY; SANCTIONS
W.D. Wash. — Civil rule
LCR 37
FAILURE TO MAKE DISCLOSURE OR COOPERATE IN DISCOVERY; SANCTIONS
(a) Motion for Order Compelling Disclosure or Discovery
(1) Meet and Confer Requirement. Any motion for an order compelling disclosure or discovery must include a certification, in the motion or in a declaration or affidavit, that the movant has in good faith conferred or attempted to confer with the person or party failing to make disclosure or discovery in an effort to resolve the dispute without court action. The certification must list the date, manner, and participants to the conference. If the movant fails to include such a certification, the court may deny the motion without addressing the merits of the dispute. A good faith effort to confer with a party or person not making a disclosure or discovery requires a face-to-face meeting or a telephone conference. If the court finds that counsel for any party, or a party proceeding pro se, willfully refused to confer, failed to confer in good faith, or failed to respond on a timely basis to a request to confer, the court may take action as stated in CR 11 of these rules.
(2) Expedited Joint Motion Procedure. A motion for an order compelling disclosure or discovery may be filed and noted in the manner prescribed in LCR 7(d)(3). Alternatively, the parties may, by agreement, utilize the expedited procedure set forth in this subsection. If the parties utilize this procedure, the motion may be noted for consideration for the day the motion is filed. After the parties have conferred, a party may submit any unresolved discovery dispute to the court through the following procedure:
(A) The moving party shall be responsible for preparing and filing a joint LCR 37 submission to the court. An example of an LCR 37 submission is attached as Appendix B.
(B) The moving party may draft an introductory statement, setting forth the context in which the dispute arose and the relief requested. Each disputed discovery request and the opposing party's objection/response thereto shall be set forth in the submission. Immediately below that, the moving party shall describe its position and the legal authority which supports the requested relief.
The moving party shall provide the opposing party with a draft of the LCR 37 submission and shall also make the submission available in computer-readable format.
(C) Within seven days of receipt of the LCR 37 submission from the moving party, the opposing party shall serve a rebuttal to the moving party's position for each of the disputed discovery requests identified in the motion. The opposing party may also include its own introductory statement. The opposing party's rebuttal for each disputed discovery request shall be made in the same document and immediately following the moving party's statement in support of the relief requested. If the opposing party no longer objects to the relief requested, it shall so state and respond as requested within seven days from the date the party received the draft LCR 37 submission. If the opposing party fails to respond, the moving party may file the LCR 37 submission with the court and state that no response was received.
(D) Within four days of receipt of the LCR 37 submission from the opposing party, the moving party will either add its reply and file the joint submission with the court, or notify the opposing party that it no longer intends to move for the requested relief. The moving party's reply, if any, in support of a disputed discovery request shall follow the opposing party's rebuttal for such request in the joint submission and shall not exceed 175 words or, if written by hand or typewriter, one half page for each reply.
(E) The total text that each side may contribute to a joint LCR 37 submission shall not exceed 4,200 words or, in written by hand or typewriter, twelve pages. This limit shall include all introductory or position statements, and statements in support of, or in opposition to, a particular request, but shall not include the discovery request itself.
(F) Each party may submit declarations for the purpose of attaching documents to be considered in connection with the submission and to provide sufficient information to permit the court to assess expenses and sanctions, if appropriate. If a party fails to include information sufficient to justify an award of fees, it shall be presumed that any request for fees has been waived. A declaration shall not contain any argument.
(G) The moving party shall prepare a proposed order that identifies each of the discovery requests at issue, with space following each of the requests for the court's decision. This proposed order shall be attached as a Word or Word Perfect compatible file to an email sent to the email orders address of the assigned judge pursuant to the court's Electronic Filing Procedures.
(H) The moving party shall be responsible for filing the motion containing both parties' positions on the discovery disputes, any declarations submitted by the parties, and the proposed form of order. The moving party shall certify in the motion that it has complied with these requirements. The submission shall be noted for consideration on the date of filing and shall be described as a "LCR 37 Joint Submission."
(I) If all parties agree to do so, they may use the expedited joint motion procedure for other types of motions, including but not limited to motions to seal, motions for relief from a deadline, and motions in limine. The timing and procedure shall be the same as set forth above except that (1) instead of setting forth the disputed discovery request and the opposing party's objection/response thereto, the moving party should set forth the relief requested and the legal authority that supports the requested relief, and (2) the moving party must submit a proposed order that sets forth the relief requested.