MAGISTRATE JUDGE VALLE’S DISCOVERY PROCEDURES
(Updated August 2017)
1. Discovery motions (which must contain the Local Rule 7.1(a)(3) certification of good
faith conference) are handled on an expedited briefing schedule and with a shortened page
limitation. Responses and replies to discovery motions are due within seven (7) days of the filing of a
motion, or response. These deadlines are inclusive of the “mailing” days allotted by the Federal Rules
of Civil Procedure and the Local Rules. Any contrary deadlines that may appear on the Court’s docket
or the attorneys’ deadline report, generated by CM/ECF, cannot modify these procedures.
2. Any discovery motion and response, including the incorporated memorandum of law,
shall not exceed ten (10) double-spaced pages, using 12-point font. Any reply memoranda shall not
exceed five (5) double-spaced pages. Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 29 permits parties to extend
the time for responding to interrogatories, requests for production, or requests for admissions, unless
such extension would interfere with the Court’s discovery deadlines, deadlines for hearing a motion, or
for trial.
3. The Court does not recognize conclusory boilerplate objections or formulaic objections
followed by an answer to the request. See, e.g., Adelman v. Boy Scouts of Am., 276 F.R.D. 681, 688
(S.D. Fla. 2011) (“[J]udges in this District typically condemn boilerplate objections as legally
inadequate or ‘meaningless.’”); Benfatto v. Wachovia Bank, N.A., No. 08–CIV–60646, 2008 WL
4938418, at *2 (S.D. Fla. Nov. 19, 2008) (“[G]eneralized objections, which purport to object to each
and every category of documents, are not recognized by this Court.”). Boilerplate objections may also
border on a frivolous response to discovery requests. Steed v. Everhome Mortg. Co., 308 F. App’x
364, 371 (11th Cir. 2009).
4. The parties are expected to engage in a reasonable compromise to facilitate the
resolution of their discovery disputes. The Court may impose sanctions, monetary or otherwise, if the
Court determines discovery is being improperly sought or is being withheld in bad faith or without
substantial justification. See Fed. R. Civ. P. 37.
