(a) Protective Orders. Upon motion by a party or by the person from whom discovery is sought, and for good cause shown, the court may make any order which justice requires to protect a party or person from annoyance, embarrassment, oppression, or undue burden or expense, including one or more of the following: (a) that the discovery not be had; (b) that the discovery may be had only on specified terms and conditions, including a designation of the time or place; (c) that the discovery may be had only by a method of discovery other than that selected by the party seeking discovery; (d) that certain matters not be inquired into, or that the scope of the discovery be limited to certain matters; (e) that discovery be conducted with no one present except persons designated by the court; (f) that a deposition after being sealed be opened only by order of the court; (g) that a trade secret or other confidential research, development, or commercial information not be disclosed or be disclosed only in a designated way; (h) that the parties simultaneously file specified documents or information enclosed in sealed envelopes to be opened as directed by the court.
Rule 29.Discovery Motions
Group V: Discovery · Last amended July 1, 2017 · Last verified July 14, 2026
In one sentenceRule 29 sets the procedure for discovery disputes, covering protective orders, conditional defaults for unanswered interrogatories, motions to compel, and sanctions for discovery motions brought or opposed in bad faith.
Full Text of Rule 29
(b) Motions for a protective order relating to trade secrets, confidential research, development or commercial information, or other private or confidential information sought through discovery shall be filed within the time set by these rules to respond to the discovery request or within 30 days of the date of automatic disclosure required by Rule 22, including any extensions agreed to by the parties or ordered by the court, or within ten days of an order of production of records. All protective orders, whether assented to or not, must be approved by the court.
(c) If a motion for a protective order is denied in whole or in part, the court may, on such terms and conditions as are just, order that any party or person provide or permit discovery.
(d) Conditional Default. If the party upon whom interrogatories or requests for production have been served, shall fail to answer said interrogatories or requests for production within 30 days, or any enlarged period, unless written objection to the answering of said interrogatories or requests is filed within that period, said failure will result in a conditional default being entered by the clerk upon motion being filed indicating such failure to answer. The party failing to answer shall receive notice of the conditional default. The conditional default shall be vacated if the defaulted party answers the interrogatories or requests within 10 days of receiving notice thereof and moves to strike the conditional default. If the defaulted party fails to move to strike the conditional default within 10 days of receiving notice thereof, the adverse party may move to have a default judgment entered and damages assessed in connection therewith. If, upon review of an affidavit of damages, the court determines that it does not provide a sufficient basis for determining damages, the court may, in its discretion, order a hearing thereon.
(e) Motion to Compel. Before any Motion to Compel discovery may be filed, counsel for the parties shall attempt in good faith to settle the dispute by agreement. If a Motion to Compel regarding requested discovery is filed, the moving party shall be deemed to have certified to the court that the moving party has made a good faith effort to obtain concurrence in the relief sought.
(f) Where a discovery dispute has been resolved by court order in favor of the party requesting discovery by court order, the requested discovery shall be provided within 10 days thereafter or within such time as the court may direct.
(g) Motions for protective order or to compel responses to discovery requests shall include a statement summarizing the nature of the action and shall include the text of the requests and responses at issue.
(h) If the court finds that a motion, which is made pursuant to this rule, was made frivolously or for the purpose of delay or was necessitated by action of the adverse party that was frivolous or taken for the purpose of delay, the court may order the offending party to pay the amount of reasonable expenses, including attorney's fees, incurred by the other party in making or resisting the motion.
Amendment History
Adopted May 22, 2013, eff. October 1, 2013; amended April 20, 2017, eff. July 1, 2017.
2017: The 2017 amendment added (b) and redesignated former (b) through (g) as (c) through (h).
Plain-English Summary
Rule 29 is where discovery disagreements get resolved. A party or person facing a discovery request can ask the court for a protective order — shielding them from annoyance, oppression, or undue expense — and the rule lists the specific forms that order can take, from barring the discovery outright to limiting its scope or requiring documents to be filed under seal. Motions for a protective order touching trade secrets or other confidential information have their own filing deadline, and every protective order, agreed to or not, needs the court's approval.
The rule also builds in consequences for silence. If a party fails to answer interrogatories or requests for production within 30 days and does not file a timely objection, the clerk enters a conditional default on motion. The defaulted party gets ten days after notice to answer and move to strike the default; miss that window, and the other side can move for a default judgment with damages assessed, subject to the court's review of the damages showing.
Before filing a motion to compel, counsel must first try in good faith to work out the dispute, and filing the motion is itself treated as a certification that this good-faith effort happened. Motions for a protective order or to compel must summarize the case and quote the actual requests and responses at issue, and once a court orders discovery produced, the losing party has ten days to comply unless the court sets another deadline. Finally, if the court finds a discovery motion — or the conduct that provoked it — was frivolous or meant to cause delay, it can order the offending party to pay the other side's reasonable expenses, including attorney's fees.
Frequently Asked Questions
What can a court order through a protective order under Rule 29?
The court may bar the discovery entirely, limit its time, place, or method, restrict the subjects that can be explored, limit who may attend, control how a sealed deposition is opened, protect trade secrets or confidential information, or require documents to be exchanged in sealed envelopes — whatever justice requires to prevent annoyance, oppression, or undue burden or expense.
What happens if a party never answers interrogatories or a request for production?
If 30 days pass (or any extended period) without an answer or a timely written objection, the clerk enters a conditional default on motion. The defaulted party can still avoid it by answering and moving to strike within ten days of notice; otherwise the other side may move for default judgment and assessed damages.
Must counsel talk before filing a motion to compel?
Yes. Rule 29(e) requires counsel to attempt in good faith to settle the discovery dispute by agreement before filing, and the act of filing the motion is treated as the moving party's certification that this good-faith effort was made.
What must a motion to compel or for a protective order include?
Under Rule 29(g), the motion must contain a statement summarizing the nature of the action along with the actual text of the discovery requests and responses at issue, so the court can rule without hunting through the file.
Can a party be penalized for a bad-faith discovery motion?
Yes. If the court finds a motion under this rule was made frivolously or to cause delay, or was made necessary by frivolous or dilatory conduct on the other side, it may order the offending party to pay the reasonable expenses, including attorney's fees, that the motion or the opposition to it caused.
Source & verification. Rule text, official Comments, and amendment
history are reproduced verbatim from the New Hampshire Superior Court Civil Rules, adopted
by the New Hampshire Supreme Court. Last verified July 14, 2026.
· Official source
Also known as: motion to compelprotective orderdiscovery sanctions New Hampshireconditional default interrogatories