If a person fails to respond to or comply with any request, notice, interrogatory, demand, question or order under this article, except a notice to admit under section 3123, the party seeking disclosure may move to compel compliance or a response.
R 3124.Failure to disclose; motion to compel disclosure.
Article 31. Disclosure · Last amended 1994 · Last verified July 21, 2026
In one sentenceCPLR 3124 lets a party who hasn't received a required response or compliance under Article 31, other than a notice to admit, move to compel the response or compliance.
Full Text of CPLR 3124
Plain-English Summary
Most disclosure disputes in New York end up here. If someone fails to respond to, or comply with, a request, notice, interrogatory, demand, question, or order issued under the disclosure article, CPLR 3124 lets the party seeking that material move to compel. It's the procedural bridge between a stalled discovery demand and a court order enforcing it.
The rule covers the whole range of disclosure devices — depositions, document demands, interrogatories, examinations — with one deliberate exception. A notice to admit under CPLR 3123 isn't enforced this way, because silence there already carries its own consequence: the matters requested are deemed admitted. Forcing a response would undercut that built-in mechanism.
Granting a motion to compel is usually the first step, not the last. If the resulting order still isn't obeyed, the remedies move to CPLR 3126, which can range from limiting what the disobedient party can argue at trial to striking pleadings or entering a default judgment.
Frequently Asked Questions
What do I do if the other side won't respond to my discovery requests in New York?
Move to compel disclosure under CPLR 3124, asking the court to order a response or compliance with the outstanding request, notice, interrogatory, or demand.
Can I use CPLR 3124 to force a response to a notice to admit?
No. Notices to admit under CPLR 3123 are excluded, because an unanswered notice to admit is already deemed admitted rather than requiring a motion to compel.
What happens after a court grants a motion to compel disclosure?
The party must comply with the order; if they still don't, the requesting party can move for sanctions under CPLR 3126, which can include striking pleadings or a default judgment.
Does CPLR 3124 apply to depositions as well as document demands?
Yes. It covers any request, notice, interrogatory, demand, question, or order issued under the disclosure article, including deposition questions a witness refuses to answer.
Do I need to try to resolve a discovery dispute before moving to compel?
The text of CPLR 3124 doesn't itself impose a meet-and-confer requirement, but many courts require good-faith efforts to resolve discovery disputes before entertaining a motion, under local rules and individual part rules.
Advisory Committee Notes
This section is based on Federal rule 37(a), broadened to include all disclosure devices. The phrase in the second sentence which adds remedies available in other jurisdictions is taken from Delaware Chancery and Superior Court rule 37(a).
The provision regarding motion granted in substantial part was added in the third sentence. Otherwise a recalcitrant’s success in winning one small point on the motion might raise a question whether any costs could be imposed upon him.
The terminology has been conformed to that used generally and the application of the provision has been clarified in a number of respects. See Rosenberg, Sanctions to Effectuate Pretrial Discovery, 58 Colum L Rev 480, 489 (1958).
Amendment History
Add, L 1993, ch 98, § 10, eff Jan 1, 1994.
Source & verification. Provision text, History, and Advisory
Committee Notes are reproduced verbatim from the Consolidated Laws of New York.
Last verified July 21, 2026.
· Official source
Also known as: motion to compel discovery New YorkNew York discovery dispute motionhow to compel disclosure New York lawsuit