Group V: Disclosures and Discovery · Last amended 2022 · Last verified July 14, 2026
(a) MOTION FOR ORDER COMPELLING DISCOVERY.
(1) In General.
(A) Certification of Good Faith Effort to Secure Required Discovery. Before any motion to compel discovery is filed, the affected parties or counsel must meet in person for a reasonable period of time in an effort to resolve the disputed matter. The movant must accompany any motion to compel discovery with a certification that despite a good faith effort to secure it, the discovery material sought has not been provided.
(B) Contents of Certification. This certification must set out specific facts describing the good faith effort, including a statement of the date, time, and place of the meeting required by Rule 37(a)(1)(A), and must be placed immediately below the signature of the attorney or party signing the motion.
(C) Requirement of Meeting Waived If No Response Made. The requirement of a meeting is waived if:
(i) the motion concerns a failure to serve any response to a Rule 33, 34, or 36 discovery request, a failure to appear for a deposition, or a Rule 35 examination, and the motion is accompanied by a copy of a letter, sent at least 10 days before the motion was filed, asking that the opposing counsel or party respond to the discovery request or that the deponent or examinee appear for a rescheduled deposition or examination; or
(ii) the movant certifies that, despite having sent to the opposing counsel or party, at least 10 days before the motion was filed, a letter (a copy of which must be attached to the motion) proposing a time and place for a meeting, and despite having made 2 telephone calls to the office of the opposing counsel or party (the date and time of each call must be specified in the motion), the movant has been unable to convene a meeting to resolve the disputed discovery matter.
(D) Format of Motion to Compel. Any motion to compel discovery must set out verbatim the question propounded and the answer given, or a description of the other discovery requested and the response to this request. The motion must also set out the reason or reasons the answer or response is inadequate.
(2) Appropriate Court. An application for an order to a party must be made to this court, or, on matters relating to a deposition, to the court in the jurisdiction where the deposition is being taken. A motion for an order to a nonparty must be made in the court where discovery is or will be taken.
(3) Specific Motions.
(A) [Omitted].
(B) To Compel a Discovery Response. A party seeking discovery may move for an order compelling an answer, designation, production, or inspection. This motion may be made if:
(i) a deponent fails to answer a question asked under Rule 30 or 31;
(ii) a corporation or other entity fails to make a designation under Rule 30(b)(6) or 31(a)(4);
(iii) a party fails to answer an interrogatory submitted under Rule 33; or
(iv) a party fails to produce documents, electronically stored information, or tangible things, or fails to respond that inspection will be permitted—or fails to permit inspection—as requested under Rule 34.
(C) Related to a Deposition. When taking an oral deposition, the party asking a question may complete or adjourn the examination before moving for an order.
(4) Evasive or Incomplete Answer or Response. For purposes of Rule 37(a), an evasive or incomplete answer or response must be treated as a failure to answer or respond.
(5) Payment of Expenses; Protective Orders.
(A) If the Motion Is Granted (or Discovery Is Provided After Filing). If the motion is granted—or if the requested discovery is provided after the motion was filed—the court must, after giving an opportunity to be heard, require the party or deponent whose conduct necessitated the motion, the party or attorney advising that conduct, or both to pay the movant’s reasonable expenses incurred in making the motion, including attorney's fees. But the court must not order this payment if:
(i) the movant filed the motion before attempting in good faith to obtain the discovery without court action;
(ii) the opposing party’s response or objection was substantially justified; or
(iii) other circumstances make an award of expenses unjust.
(B) If the Motion Is Denied. If the motion is denied, the court may issue any protective order authorized under Rule 26(c) and must, after giving an opportunity to be heard, require the movant, the attorney filing the motion, or both to pay the party or deponent who opposed the motion its reasonable expenses incurred in opposing the motion, including attorney's fees. But the court must not order this payment if the motion was substantially justified or other circumstances make an award of expenses unjust.
(C) If the Motion Is Granted in Part and Denied in Part. If the motion is granted in part and denied in part, the court may issue any protective order authorized under Rule 26(c) and may, after giving an opportunity to be heard, apportion the reasonable expenses for the motion.
(b) FAILURE TO COMPLY WITH A COURT ORDER.
(1) Sanctions Sought in the Jurisdiction Where the Deposition Is Taken. If the court where the discovery is taken orders a deponent to be sworn or to answer a question and the deponent fails to obey, the failure may be treated as contempt of court. If a deposition-related motion is transferred to the court where the action is pending, and that court orders a deponent to be sworn or to answer a question and the deponent fails to obey, the failure may be treated as contempt of either the court where the discovery is taken or the court where the action is pending.
(2) Sanctions Sought in This Court.
(A) For Not Obeying a Discovery Order. If a party or a party’s officer, director, or managing agent—or a witness designated under Rule 30(b)(6) or 31(a)(4)—fails to obey an order to provide or permit discovery, including an order under Rule 26(e), 35, or 37(a), the court may issue further just orders. They may include the following:
(i) directing that the matters embraced in the order or other designated facts be taken as established for the purposes of the action, as the prevailing party claims;
(ii) prohibiting the disobedient party from supporting or opposing designated claims or defenses, or from introducing designated matters in evidence;
(iii) striking pleadings in whole or in part;
(iv) staying further proceedings until the order is obeyed;
(v) dismissing the action or proceeding in whole or in part;
(vi) rendering a default judgment against the disobedient party; or
(vii) treating as contempt of court the failure to obey any order except an order to submit to a physical or mental examination.
(B) For Not Producing a Person for Examination. If a party fails to comply with an order under Rule 35(a) requiring it to produce another person for examination, the court may issue any of the orders listed in Rule 37(b)(2)(A)(i)–(vi), unless the disobedient party shows that it cannot produce the other person.
(C) Payment of Expenses. Instead of or in addition to the orders above, the court must order the disobedient party, the attorney advising that party, or both to pay the reasonable expenses, including attorney's fees, caused by the failure, unless the failure was substantially justified or other circumstances make an award of expenses unjust.
(c) FAILURE TO ADMIT. If a party fails to admit what is requested under Rule 36 and if the requesting party later proves a document to be genuine or the matter true, the requesting party may move that the party who failed to admit pay the reasonable expenses, including attorney’s fees, incurred in making that proof. The court must so order unless:
(1) the request was held objectionable under Rule 36(a);
(2) the admission sought was of no substantial importance;
(3) the party failing to admit had a reasonable ground to believe that it might prevail on the matter; or
(4) there was other good reason for the failure to admit.
(d) PARTY’S FAILURE TO ATTEND ITS OWN DEPOSITION, SERVE ANSWERS TO INTERROGATORIES, OR RESPOND TO A REQUEST FOR INSPECTION.
(1) In General.
(A) Motion; Grounds for Sanctions. The court may, on motion, order sanctions if:
(i) a party or a party’s officer, director, or managing agent—or a person designated under Rule 30(b)(6) or 31(a)(4)— fails, after being served with proper notice, to appear for that person’s deposition; or
(ii) a party, after being properly served with interrogatories under Rule 33 or a request for inspection under Rule 34, fails to serve its answers, objections, or written response.
(B) Certification. A motion for sanctions for failing to answer or respond must include a certification that the movant has in good faith conferred or attempted to confer with the party failing to act in an effort to obtain the answer or response without court action.
(2) Unacceptable Excuse for Failing to Act. A failure described in Rule 37(d)(1)(A) is not excused on the ground that the discovery sought was objectionable, unless the party failing to act has a pending motion for a protective order under Rule 26(c).
(3) Types of Sanctions. Sanctions may include any of the orders listed in Rule 37(b)(2)(A)(i)–(vi). Instead of or in addition to these sanctions, the court must require the party failing to act, the attorney advising that party, or both, to pay the reasonable expenses, including attorney’s fees, caused by the failure, unless the failure was substantially justified or other circumstances make an award of expenses unjust.
(e) FAILURE TO PRESERVE ELECTRONICALLY STORED INFORMATION. If electronically stored information that should have been preserved in the anticipation or conduct of litigation is lost because a party failed to take reasonable steps to preserve it, and it cannot be restored or replaced through additional discovery, the court:
(1) upon finding prejudice to another party from loss of the information, may order measures no greater than necessary to cure the prejudice; or
(2) only upon finding that the party acted with the intent to deprive another party of the information’s use in the litigation may:
(A) presume that the lost information was unfavorable to the party;
(B) instruct the jury that it may or must presume the information was unfavorable to the party; or
(C) dismiss the action or enter a default judgment.
(f) EXPENSES AGAINST UNITED STATES OR DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA. Except to the extent permitted by statute, expenses and fees may not be awarded against the United States or the District of Columbia under this rule.
Rule 37 is the enforcement mechanism behind every other discovery rule. Before filing most motions to compel, Rule 37(a)(1) requires the affected parties or their counsel to meet in person and try to work out the dispute themselves, and the motion has to carry a certification describing that meeting's date, time, and place. That in-person requirement is a distinctly local feature — it goes further than merely requiring a good-faith effort to resolve things, and a motion missing the certification risks being turned away. The meeting requirement gives way only in narrow circumstances: when the dispute involves a total failure to respond to interrogatories, document requests, or admission requests, or a failure to appear for a deposition or exam, backed by a letter sent at least 10 days before the motion demanding a response; or when the movant certifies it tried to set up a meeting through a letter and two phone calls but couldn't get the other side to the table. Every motion to compel also has to quote out the discovery question or request and the answer or response given, word for word, along with why that answer falls short.
Rule 37(a)(3) lists the specific grounds for a motion to compel: a deponent who won't answer, an entity that won't designate a witness under Rule 30(b)(6), a party that won't answer an interrogatory, or a party that won't produce documents or allow an inspection. An answer that is evasive or incomplete counts as no answer at all. When the court decides the motion, Rule 37(a)(5) usually makes the losing side pay the other party's reasonable expenses, including attorney's fees — whether that means the party who had to file the motion, or the party who had to fight one that shouldn't have been filed — unless the losing position was substantially justified or some other circumstance would make an award unjust.
Rule 37(b) covers what happens when a party defies an actual court order compelling discovery: the court can deem disputed facts established, block the disobedient party from supporting certain claims or defenses, strike pleadings, stay the case, dismiss it, enter a default judgment, or treat the violation as contempt. Rule 37(c) adds a parallel consequence for wrongly refusing to admit something under Rule 36 — if the requesting party later proves the point true, it can recover the cost of that proof unless the refusal had good grounds. Rule 37(d) covers a party's own failure to show up for its deposition or to respond to interrogatories or inspection requests at all, again requiring a certification of a good-faith effort to resolve the issue first. Rule 37(e) addresses lost electronically stored information: if a party should have preserved it and didn't take reasonable steps to do so, the court can order measures to cure any prejudice, and if the party acted with intent to deprive the other side of the information, the court can go further — presuming the information was unfavorable, instructing the jury accordingly, or dismissing the action or entering default judgment. Rule 37(f) caps expense awards against the United States or the District of Columbia to what a statute allows.