(See 28 U.S.C. § 473(a)(4)-(5); Fed. R. Civ. P. 5, 26, 30, 31, 33, 34,
36, 37; Fed. R. Crim. P. 12, 16)
(a) Implementation of Fed. R. Civ. P. 26
Fed. R. Civ. P. 26 shall control the initial stages of disclosure and discovery
in all civil cases except for the categories of proceedings specified in Fed. R.
Civ. P. 26(a)(1)(B).
In addition to the categories expressly listed in Fed. R. Civ. P. 26(a)(1)(B),
the following categories are also construed as exempt:
(1) prisoner civil rights cases;
(2) cases brought by the United States for collection on defaults of
government loans and all mortgage foreclosure default loans;
(3) land condemnation cases;
(4) cases brought by the United States for condemnation or forfeiture
against vehicles, airplanes, vessels, contaminated foods, drugs,
cosmetics, and the like;
(5) IRS enforcement actions;
(6) Freedom of Information Act cases;
(7) suits to quash subpoenas; and
(8) proceedings filed as civil actions for admission to citizenship or to
cancel or revoke citizenship.
The judicial officer to whom the case is assigned for trial may order an
initial conference, a final pretrial conference, or a settlement conference in
a case falling in one of the excluded categories if the judicial officer
determines that the complexity of the case or some unusual factor warrants
more extensive pretrial case management than is usually necessary for that
type of case.
(b) Filing of Disclosure and Discovery
(1) Interrogatories under Fed. R. Civ. P. 33 and the objections and
answers thereto, requests for production or inspection under Fed. R.
Civ. P. 34 and the objections and responses thereto, Requests for
Admissions under Fed. R. Civ. P. 36 and the objections and
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responses thereto, and deposition notices under Fed. R. Civ. P. 30
and 31 shall be served upon other counsel or parties but shall not be
filed with the Clerk of Court. The party responsible for service of the
discovery material shall retain the original and become the custodian
thereof. Certificates of service for these materials should not be filed
on the docket.
(c) Cooperative Discovery Arrangements; Discovery Disputes
(1) Cooperative discovery arrangements in the interest of reducing
delay and expense are mandated. The parties are strongly
encouraged to resolve discovery disputes informally.
(2) The parties must make good faith efforts to timely meet and confer
on any discovery dispute before filing a motion with the Court.
(3) To curtail undue delay and expense in the administration of justice,
this Court shall hereafter refuse to hear any and all motions for
discovery and production of documents under Rules 26 through 37
of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, unless the motion includes a
certification that: (1) after consultation in person or by telephone or
videoconference and good faith attempts to resolve differences, they
are unable to reach an accord, or (2) counsel’s attempts to engage in
such consultation were unsuccessful due to no fault of counsel’s.
Where the consultation occurred, this statement shall recite, in
addition, the date, time, and place of such conference, and the names
of all parties participating therein. Where counsel was unsuccessful
in engaging in such consultation, the statement shall recite the efforts
made by counsel to engage in consultation. This provision does not
apply to pro se prisoner cases.
(4) Any discovery motion filed pursuant to Fed. R. Civ. P. 26 through 37
shall have attached to it or the accompanying memorandum a copy
of the actual discovery documents that are the subject of the motion
or, in the alternative, set out in the memorandum a verbatim
recitation of each interrogatory, request, answer, response, and/or
objection that is the subject of the motion.
(5) The parties are further directed to review the presiding judge’s case
management procedures for any additional requirements.
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(d) Form of Written Discovery
(1) Written discovery pursuant to Fed. R. Civ. P. 33, 34, and 36 shall be
served on the responsive party in Microsoft Word format. Pro se civil
litigants who are incarcerated may serve such written discovery on
the responsive party in a typewritten or legibly printed hard copy
format.
(2) Any response or objection to discovery served pursuant to Fed. R.
Civ. P. 33, 34, and 36 shall be typewritten or printed legibly and must
set forth in full the interrogatory or request being answered or
objected to immediately preceding the answer or objection.
(e) Discovery in Criminal Cases
(1) Parties in criminal cases shall comply with the Standard Order for
Pretrial Discovery and Inspection.
