Rule 26 General provisions governing disclosure and discovery

(a) Disclosure. This rule applies unless changed or supplemented by a rule governing disclosure and discovery in a practice area.

(1) Initial disclosures. Except in cases exempt under paragraph (a)(3), a party must, without waiting for a discovery request, serve on the other parties:

(A) the name and, if known, the address and telephone number of:

(i) each individual likely to have discoverable information supporting its claims or defenses, unless solely for impeachment, identifying the subjects of the information; and

(ii) each fact witness the party may call in its case-in-chief and, except for an adverse party, a summary of the expected testimony;

(B) a copy of all documents, data compilations, electronically stored information, and tangible things in the possession or control of the party that the party may offer in its case-in-chief, except charts, summaries, and demonstrative exhibits that have not yet been prepared and must be disclosed in accordance with paragraph (a)(5);

(C) a computation of any damages claimed and a copy of all discoverable documents or evidentiary material on which such computation is based, including materials about the nature and extent of injuries suffered;

(D) a copy of any agreement under which any person may be liable to satisfy part or all of a judgment or to indemnify or reimburse for payments made to satisfy the judgment; and

(E) a copy of all documents to which a party refers in its pleadings.

(2) Timing of initial disclosures. The disclosures required by paragraph (a)(1) must be served on the other parties:

(A) by a plaintiff within 14 days after the filing of the first answer to that plaintiff’s complaint; and

(B) by a defendant within 42 days after the filing of that defendant’s first answer to the complaint.

(3) Exemptions.

(A) Unless otherwise ordered by the court or agreed to by the parties, the requirements of paragraph (a)(1) do not apply to actions:

(i) for judicial review of adjudicative proceedings or rule making proceedings of an administrative agency;

(ii) governed by Rule 65B or Rule 65C;

(iii) to enforce an arbitration award; or

(iv) for water rights general adjudication under Utah Code Title 73, Chapter 4, Determination of Water Rights.

(B) In an exempt action, the matters subject to disclosure under paragraph (a)(1) are subject to discovery under paragraph (b).

(4) Expert testimony.

(A) Disclosure of retained expert testimony. A party must, without waiting for a discovery request, serve on the other parties the following information regarding any person who may be used at trial to present evidence under Rule702 of the Utah Rules of Evidence and who is retained or specially employed to provide expert testimony in the case or whose duties as an employee of the party regularly involve giving expert testimony: (i) the expert’s name and qualifications, including a list of all publications authored within the preceding 10 years, and a list of any other cases in which the expert has testified as an expert at trial or by deposition within the preceding four years, (ii) a brief summary of the opinions to which the witness is expected to testify, (iii) the facts, data, and other information specific to the case that will be relied upon by the witness in forming those opinions, and (iv) the compensation to be paid for the witness’s study and testimony.

(B) Limits on expert discovery. Further discovery may be obtained from an expert witness either by deposition or by written report. A deposition must not exceed four hours and the party taking the deposition must pay the expert’s reasonable hourly fees for attendance at the deposition. A report must be signed by the expert and must contain a complete statement of all opinions the expert will offer at trial and the basis and reasons for them. Such an expert may not testify in a party’s case-in-chief concerning any matter not fairly disclosed in the report. The party offering the expert must pay the costs for the report.

(C) Timing for expert discovery.

(i) The party who bears the burden of proof on the issue for which expert testimony is offered must serve on the other parties the information required by paragraph (a)(4)(A) within 14 days after the close of fact discovery. Within 14 days thereafter, the party opposing the expert may serve notice electing either a deposition of the expert pursuant to paragraph (a)(4)(B) and Rule 30, or a written report pursuant to paragraph (a)(4)(B). The deposition must occur, or the report must be served on the other parties, within 42 days after the election is served on the other parties. If no election is served on the other parties, then no further discovery of the expert must be permitted.

(ii) The party who does not bear the burden of proof on the issue for which expert testimony is offered must serve on the other parties the information required by paragraph (a)(4)(A) within 14 days after the later of (A) the date on which the disclosure under paragraph (a)(4)(C)(i) is due, or (B) service of the written report or the taking of the expert’s deposition pursuant to paragraph (a)(4)(C)(i). Within 14 days thereafter, the party opposing the expert may serve notice electing either a deposition of the expert pursuant to paragraph (a)(4)(B) and Rule 30, or a written report pursuant to paragraph (a)(4)(B). The deposition must occur, or the report must be served on the other parties, within 42 days after the election is served on the other parties. If no election is served on the other parties, then no further discovery of the expert must be permitted.

(iii) If the party who bears the burden of proof on an issue wants to designate rebuttal expert witnesses, it must serve on the other parties the information required by paragraph (a)(4)(A) within 14 days after the later of (A) the date on which the election under paragraph (a)(4)(C)(ii) is due or (B) service of the written report or the taking of the expert’s deposition pursuant to paragraph (a)(4)(C)(ii). Within 14 days thereafter, the party opposing the expert may serve notice electing either a deposition of the expert pursuant to paragraph (a)(4)(B) and Rule 30, or a written report pursuant to paragraph (a)(4)(B). The deposition must occur, or the report must be served on the other parties, within 42 days after the election is served on the other parties. If no election is served on the other parties, then no further discovery of the expert must be permitted. The court may preclude an expert disclosed only as a rebuttal expert from testifying in the case in chief.

(D) Multiparty actions. In multiparty actions, all parties opposing the expert must agree on either a report or a deposition. If all parties opposing the expert do not agree, then further discovery of the expert may be obtained only by deposition pursuant to paragraph (a)(4)(B) and Rule 30.

(E) Summary of non-retained expert testimony. If a party intends to present evidence at trial under Rule 702 of the Utah Rules of Evidence from any person other than an expert witness who is retained or specially employed to provide testimony in the case or a person whose duties as an employee of the party regularly involve giving expert testimony, that party must serve on the other parties a written summary of the facts and opinions to which the witness is expected to testify in accordance with the deadlines set forth in paragraph (a)(4)(C). Such a witness cannot be required to provide a report pursuant to paragraph (a)(4)(B). A deposition of such a witness may not exceed four hours and, unless manifest injustice would result, the party taking the deposition must pay the expert's reasonable hourly fees for attendance at the deposition.

(5) Pretrial disclosures.

(A) A party must, without waiting for a discovery request, serve on the other parties:

(i) the name and, if not previously provided, the address and telephone number of each witness, unless solely for impeachment, separately identifying witnesses the party will call and witnesses the party may call;

(ii) the name of witnesses whose testimony is expected to be presented by transcript of a deposition;

(iii) designations of the proposed deposition testimony; and

(iv) a copy of each exhibit, including charts, summaries, and demonstrative exhibits, unless solely for impeachment, separately identifying those which the party will offer and those which the party may offer.

(B) Disclosure required by paragraph (a)(5)(A) must be served on the other parties at least 28 days before trial. Disclosures required by paragraph (a)(5)(A)(i) and (a)(5)(A)(ii) must also be filed on the date that they are served. At least 14 days before trial, a party must serve any counter designations of deposition testimony and any objections and grounds for the objections to the use of any deposition, witness, or exhibit if the grounds for the objection are apparent before trial. Other than objections under Rules 402 and 403 of the Utah Rules of Evidence, other objections not listed are waived unless excused by the court for good cause.

(6) Form of disclosure and discovery production.Rule 34 governs the form in which all documents, data compilations, electronically stored information, tangible things, and evidentiary material should be produced under this Rule.

(b) Discovery scope.

(1) In general. Parties may discover any matter, not privileged, which is relevant to the claim or defense of any party if the discovery satisfies the standards of proportionality set forth below.

(2) Privileged matters.

(A) Privileged matters that are not discoverable or admissible in any proceeding of any kind or character include:

(i) all information in any form provided during and created specifically as part of a request for an investigation, the investigation, findings, or conclusions of peer review, care review, or quality assurance processes of any organization of health care providers as defined in Utah Code Title 78B, Chapter 3, Part 4, Utah Health Care Malpractice Act, for the purpose of evaluating care provided to reduce morbidity and mortality or to improve the quality of medical care, or for the purpose of peer review of the ethics, competence, or professional conduct of any health care provider; and

(ii) except as provided in paragraph (b)(2)(C), (D), or (E), all communications, materials, and information in any form specifically created for or during a medical candor process under Utah Code Title 78B, Chapter 3, Part 4a, Utah Medical Candor Act, including any findings or conclusions from the investigation and any offer of compensation.

(B) Disclosure or use in a medical candor process of any communication, material, or information in any form that contains any information described in paragraph (b)(2)(A)(i) does not waive any privilege or protection against admissibility or discovery of the information under paragraph (b)(2)(A)(i).

(C) Any communication, material, or information in any form that is made or provided in the ordinary course of business, including a medical record or a business record, that is otherwise discoverable or admissible and is not created for or during a medical candor process is not privileged by the use or disclosure of the communication, material or information during a medical candor process.

(D) (i) Any information that is required to be documented in a patient’s medical record under state or federal law is not privileged by the use or disclosure of the information during a medical candor process.

(ii) Information described in paragraph (b)(2)(D)(i) does not include an individual’s mental impressions, conclusions, or opinions that are formed outside the course and scope of the patient’s care and treatment and are used or disclosed in a medical candor process.

(E) (i) Any communication, material or information in any form that is provided to an affected party before the affected party’s written agreement to participate in a medical candor process is not privileged by the use or disclosure of the communication, material, or information during a medical candor process.

(ii) Any communication, material, or information described in paragraph (b)(2)(E)(i) does not include a written notice described in Utah Code section 78B-3-452.

(F) The terms defined in Utah Code section 78B-3-450 apply to paragraphs (b)(2)(A)(ii), (B), (C), (D), and (E).

(G) Nothing in this paragraph (b)(2) shall prevent a party from raising any other privileges provided by law or rule as to the admissibility or discovery of any communication, information, or material described in paragraph (b)(2)(A), (B), (C), (D), or (E).

(3) Proportionality. Discovery and discovery requests are proportional if:

(A) the discovery is reasonable, considering the needs of the case, the amount in controversy, the complexity of the case, the parties' resources, the importance of the issues, and the importance of the discovery in resolving the issues;

(B) the likely benefits of the proposed discovery outweigh the burden or expense;

(C) the discovery is consistent with the overall case management and will further the just, speedy, and inexpensive determination of the case;

(D) the discovery is not unreasonably cumulative or duplicative;

(E) the information cannot be obtained from another source that is more convenient, less burdensome, or less expensive; and

(F) the party seeking discovery has not had sufficient opportunity to obtain the information by discovery or otherwise, taking into account the parties’ relative access to the information.

(4) Burden. The party seeking discovery always has the burden of showing proportionality and relevance. To ensure proportionality, the court may enter orders under Rule 37.

(5) Electronically stored information. A party claiming that electronically stored information is not reasonably accessible because of undue burden or cost must describe the source of the electronically stored information, the nature and extent of the burden, the nature of the information not provided, and any other information that will enable other parties to evaluate the claim.

(6) Trial preparation materials. A party may obtain otherwise discoverable documents and tangible things prepared in anticipation of litigation or for trial by or for another party or by or for that other party's representative (including the party’s attorney, consultant, surety, indemnitor, insurer, or agent) only upon a showing that the party seeking discovery has substantial need of the materials and that the party is unable without undue hardship to obtain substantially equivalent materials by other means. In ordering discovery of such materials, the court must protect against disclosure of the mental impressions, conclusions, opinions, or legal theories of an attorney or other representative of a party.

(7) Statement previously made about the action. A party may obtain without the showing required in paragraph (b)(5) a statement concerning the action or its subject matter previously made by that party. Upon request, a person not a party may obtain without the required showing a statement about the action or its subject matter previously made by that person. If the request is refused, the person may move for a court order under Rule 37. A statement previously made is (A) a written statement signed or approved by the person making it, or (B) a stenographic, mechanical, electronic, or other recording, or a transcription thereof, which is a substantially verbatim recital of an oral statement by the person making it and contemporaneously recorded.

(8) Trial preparation; experts.

(A) Trial-preparation protection for draft reports or disclosures. Paragraph (b)(6) protects drafts of any report or disclosure required under paragraph (a)(4), regardless of the form in which the draft is recorded.

(B) Trial-preparation protection for communications between a party’s attorney and expert witnesses. Paragraph (b)(6) protects communications between the party’s attorney and any witness required to provide disclosures under paragraph (a)(4), regardless of the form of the communications, except to the extent that the communications:

(i) relate to compensation for the expert’s study or testimony;

(ii) identify facts or data that the party’s attorney provided and that the expert considered in forming the opinions to be expressed; or

(iii) identify assumptions that the party’s attorney provided and that the expert relied on in forming the opinions to be expressed.

(C) Expert employed only for trial preparation. Ordinarily, a party may not, by interrogatories or otherwise, discover facts known or opinions held by an expert who has been retained or specially employed by another party in anticipation of litigation or to prepare for trial and who is not expected to be called as a witness at trial. A party may do so only:

(i) as provided in Rule 35(b); or

(ii) on showing exceptional circumstances under which it is impracticable for the party to obtain facts or opinions on the same subject by other means.

(9) Claims of privilege or protection of trial preparation materials.

(A) Information withheld. If a party withholds discoverable information by claiming that it is privileged or prepared in anticipation of litigation or for trial, the party must make the claim expressly and must describe the nature of the documents, communications, or things not produced in a manner that, without revealing the information itself, will enable other parties to evaluate the claim.

(B) Information produced. If a party produces information that the party claims is privileged or prepared in anticipation of litigation or for trial, the producing party may notify any receiving party of the claim and the basis for it. After being notified, a receiving party must promptly return, sequester, or destroy the specified information and any copies it has and may not use or disclose the information until the claim is resolved. A receiving party may promptly present the information to the court under seal for a determination of the claim. If the receiving party disclosed the information before being notified, it must take reasonable steps to retrieve it. The producing party must preserve the information until the claim is resolved.

(C) Information disclosed in legislative audit. If a party is an entity that is subject to an audit by the legislative auditor general under Utah Constitution, Article VI, Section 33, and information that is privileged or prepared in anticipation of litigation or for trial is disclosed to the legislative auditor general or an arbitrator as described in Utah Code section 36-12-15, the disclosure to the legislative auditor general or the arbitrator does not make the information discoverable or prevent the party from claiming that the information is privileged and prepared in anticipation of litigation or for trial.

(c) Methods, sequence, and timing of discovery; tiers; limits on standard discovery; extraordinary discovery.

(1) Methods of discovery. Parties may obtain discovery by one or more of the following methods: depositions upon oral examination or written questions; written interrogatories; production of documents or things or permission to enter upon land or other property, for inspection and other purposes; physical and mental examinations; requests for admission; and subpoenas other than for a court hearing or trial.

(2) Sequence and timing of discovery. Methods of discovery may be used in any sequence, and the fact that a party is conducting discovery must not delay any other party's discovery. Except for cases exempt under paragraph (a)(3), a party may not seek discovery from any source before that party’s initial disclosure obligations are satisfied.

(3) Definition of tiers for standard discovery. Actions claiming $50,000 or less in damages are permitted standard discovery as described for Tier 1. Actions claiming more than $50,000 and less than $300,000 in damages are permitted standard discovery as described for Tier 2. Actions claiming $300,000 or more in damages are permitted standard discovery as described for Tier 3. Absent an accompanying damage claim for more than $300,000, actions claiming non-monetary relief are permitted standard discovery as described for Tier 2. Domestic relations actions are permitted standard discovery as described for Tier 4.

(4) Definition of damages. For purposes of determining standard discovery, the amount of damages includes the total of all monetary damages sought (without duplication for alternative theories) by all parties in all claims for relief in the original pleadings.

(5) Limits on standard fact discovery. Standard fact discovery per side (plaintiffs collectively, defendants collectively, and third-party defendants collectively) in each tier is as follows. The days to complete standard fact discovery are calculated from the date the first defendant’s first disclosure is due and do not include expert discovery under paragraphs (a)(4)(C) and (D).

Tier	Amount of Damages	Total Fact Deposition Hours	Rule 33 Interrogatories including all discrete subparts	Rule 34 Requests for Production	Rule 36 Requests for Admission	Days to Complete Standard Fact Discovery
1	$50,000 or less	3	0	5	5	120
2	More than $50,000 and less than $300,000 or non-monetary relief	15	10	10	10	180
3	$300,000 or more	30	20	20	20	210
4	Domestic relations actions	4	10	10	10	90

(6) Extraordinary discovery. To obtain discovery beyond the limits established in paragraph (c)(5), a party must:

(A) before the close of standard discovery and after reaching the limits of standard discovery imposed by these rules, file a stipulated statement that extraordinary discovery is necessary and proportional under paragraph (b)(2) and, for each party represented by an attorney, a statement that the attorney consulted with the client about the request for extraordinary discovery;

(B) before the close of standard discovery and after reaching the limits of standard discovery imposed by these rules, file a request for extraordinary discovery under Rule 37(a) or

(C) obtain an expanded discovery schedule under Rule 100A.

(d) Requirements for disclosure or response; disclosure or response by an organization; failure to disclose; initial and supplemental disclosures and responses.

(1) A party must make disclosures and responses to discovery based on the information then known or reasonably available to the party.

(2) If the party providing disclosure or responding to discovery is a corporation, partnership, association, or governmental agency, the party must act through one or more officers, directors, managing agents, or other persons, who must make disclosures and responses to discovery based on the information then known or reasonably available to the party.

(3) A party is not excused from making disclosures or responses because the party has not completed investigating the case, the party challenges the sufficiency of another party's disclosures or responses, or another party has not made disclosures or responses.

(4) If a party fails to disclose or to supplement timely a disclosure or response to discovery, that party may not use the undisclosed witness, document, or material at any hearing or trial unless the failure is harmless or the party shows good cause for the failure.

(5) If a party learns that a disclosure or response is incomplete or incorrect in some important way, the party must timely serve on the other parties the additional or correct information if it has not been made known to the other parties. The supplemental disclosure or response must state why the additional or correct information was not previously provided.

(e) Signing discovery requests, responses, and objections. Every disclosure, request for discovery, response to a request for discovery, and objection to a request for discovery must be in writing and signed by at least one attorney of record or by the party if the party is not represented. The signature of the attorney or party is a certification under Rule11. If a request or response is not signed, the receiving party does not need to take any action with respect to it. If a certification is made in violation of the rule, the court, upon motion or upon its own initiative, may take any action authorized by Rule11 or Rule37(b).

(f) Filing. Except as required by these rules or ordered by the court, a party must not file with the court a disclosure, a request for discovery, or a response to a request for discovery, but must file only the certificate of service stating that the disclosure, request for discovery, or response has been served on the other parties and the date of service.