Rule 37.Failure to Make or Cooperate in Discovery: Sanctions.
Current through February 2024 · Last verified July 8, 2026
In one sentenceRule 37 sets out how a party moves to compel discovery withheld under Rules 30, 31, 33, 34, or 36, and the escalating sanctions a court can impose, from shifting expenses to dismissal or default judgment, when a party won't cooperate or disobeys a discovery order.
(a)Motion for Order Compelling Discovery. A party, upon reasonable notice to other parties and all persons affected thereby, may apply for an order compelling discovery as follows:
(1)Appropriate Court. An application for an order to a party may be made to the court in which the action is pending or, on matters relating to a deposition, in the county in which the deposition is being taken. This provision shall also apply to a deponent who is not a party.
(2)Motion. If a deponent fails to answer a question propounded or submitted under Rules 30 and 31, or a corporation or other entity fails to make a designation under Rule 30(b)(6) or 31(a), or a party fails to answer an interrogatory submitted under Rule 33, or if a party, in response to a request for production or inspection submitted under Rule 34, fails to respond that inspection will be permitted as requested or fails to permit inspection as requested, the discovering party may move for an order compelling an answer, or a designation, or an order compelling production or inspection in accordance with the request. The motion must include a certification that the movant has in good faith conferred or attempted to confer with the person or party failing to make the discovery in an effort to secure the information or material without court action. When taking a deposition on oral examination, the proponent of the question may complete or adjourn the examination before applying for an order.
(3)Evasive or Incomplete Answer or Response. For purposes of this subdivision an evasive or incomplete answer or response is to be treated as a failure to answer or respond.
(4)Expenses and Sanctions.
(A)If the motion is granted or if requested discovery is provided after the motion was filed, the court may, after affording an opportunity to be heard, require the party or deponent whose conduct necessitated the motion or the party or attorney advising such conduct or both of them to pay to the moving party the reasonable expenses incurred in making the motion, including attorney's fees, unless the court finds that the motion was filed without the movant's first making a good faith effort to obtain the disclosure or discovery without court action, or that the opposing party's nondisclosure, response, or objection was substantially justified, or that other circumstances make an award of expenses unjust. An order compelling discovery may expressly provide for entry of a final judgment dismissing the underlying claim or entry of a default judgment against the nonmoving party if the order is not complied with within thirty (30) days or such shorter or longer time as the court may order or as the parties may stipulate.
(B)If the motion is denied, the court may enter any protective order authorized under Rule 26(c) and may, after affording an opportunity to be heard, require the moving party or the attorney filing the motion or both of them to pay to the party or deponent who opposed the motion the reasonable expenses incurred in opposing the motion, including attorney's fees, unless the court finds that the making of the motion was substantially justified or that other circumstances make an award of expenses unjust.
(C)If the motion is granted in part and denied in part, the court may enter any protective order authorized under Rule 26(c) and may, after affording an opportunity to be heard, apportion the reasonable expenses incurred in relation to the motion among the parties and persons in a just manner.
(D)Absent exceptional circumstances, the court may not impose sanctions on a party under these rules for failure to provide electronically stored information lost as a result of the routine, good faith operation of an electronic information system.
(1)Contempt. If a party or other witness refuses to be sworn or refuses to answer any question after being directed to do so by the court, the refusal may be punished as a contempt of court.
(2)Other Consequences. If a party or an officer, director, or managing agent of a party or a person designated under Rule 30(b)(6) to testify on behalf of a party fails or refuses to obey an order to provide or permit discovery, including an order made under subdivision (a) of this rule or Rule 35, the court may make such orders and enter such judgment in regard to the failure or refusal as are just, and among others the following:
(A)An order that the matters regarding which the order was made, or any other designated facts shall be taken to be established for the purposes of the action in accordance with the claim of the party obtaining the order;
(B)An order refusing to allow the disobedient party to support or oppose designated claims or defenses, or prohibiting the disobedient party from introducing designated matters in evidence;
(C)An order striking out pleadings or parts thereof, or staying further proceedings until the order is obeyed, or a final judgment dismissing the action or proceeding or any part thereof, or rendering a judgment by default against the disobedient party;
(D)In lieu of any of the foregoing orders or in addition thereto, an order treating as contempt of court the failure to obey any orders except an order to submit to a physical or mental examination; and/or
(E)Where a party has failed to comply with an order under Rule 35(a) requiring the party to produce another for examination, such orders as are listed in subdivisions (A), (B), and (C) of this subdivision of this rule, unless the party failing to comply shows that the party is unable to produce such person for examination.
In lieu of any of the foregoing orders or in addition thereto, the court may require the party failing to obey the order or the attorney advising that party or both to pay the reasonable expenses, including attorney's fees, caused by the failure, unless the court finds that the failure was substantially justified or that other circumstances make an award of expenses unjust.
(c)Expenses on Refusal to Admit. If a party fails to admit the genuineness of any documents or the truth of any matter as requested under Rule 36, and if the party requesting the admissions thereafter proves the genuineness of the document or the truth of the matter, the requesting party may apply to the court for an order requiring the other party to pay the reasonable expenses incurred in making such proof, including reasonable attorney's fees.
The court may make the order unless it finds that:
(1)The request was held objectionable pursuant to Rule 36(a);
(2)The admission sought was of no substantial importance;
(3)The party failing to admit had reasonable ground to believe that the party might prevail on the matter; or
(4)There was other good reason for the failure to admit.
(d)Failure of Party to Attend at Own Deposition or Serve Answers to Interrogatories or Respond to Request for Inspection. If a party or an officer, director, or managing agent of a party or a person designated under Rule 30(b)(6) or 31(a) to testify on behalf of a party fails
(1)to appear before the officer who is to take the deposition, after being served with a proper notice, or
(2)to serve answers or objections to interrogatories submitted under Rule 33, after proper service of the interrogatories, or
(3)to serve a written response to a request for inspection submitted under Rule 34, after proper service of the request, the court on motion may make such orders in regard to the failure as are just, and among others the court may take any action authorized under subparagraph (A), (B) and (C) of subdivision (b)(2) of this rule. Any motion specifying a failure under cause (2) or (3) of this subdivision shall include a certification that the movant has in good faith conferred or attempted to confer with the party failing to answer or respond in an effort to obtain such answer or response without court action. In lieu of any order or in addition thereto, the court may require the party failing to act or the attorney advising that party or both to pay the reasonable expenses, including attorney's fees, caused by the failure, unless the court finds that the failure was substantially justified or that other circumstances make an award of expenses unjust.
The failure to act described in this subdivision may not be excused on the ground that the discovery sought is objectionable unless the party failing to act has a pending motion for a protective order as provided by Rule 26(c).
VI. TRIALS
Amendment History
Rhode Island does not publish a per-rule amendment history inside the compiled rules text reproduced here. The text above is verified current through the source’s own February 2024 printing; for the underlying adopting orders and any later amendments, see the Rhode Island Judiciary’s compiled rules page.
Plain-English Summary
Rule 37 gives discovery its teeth. When a deponent won’t answer a question, an entity won’t designate a witness under Rule 30(b)(6) or 31(a), a party won’t answer an interrogatory under Rule 33, or a party won’t permit inspection under Rule 34, the party missing that discovery can move to compel an answer, a designation, or production. The motion must certify that the movant first tried in good faith to work it out without court involvement, and an evasive or incomplete answer counts the same as no answer at all.
Expenses follow the outcome of that motion. If the motion succeeds, or the discovery shows up only after the motion was filed, the court can make the resisting party or its attorney pay the reasonable expenses of bringing the motion, including attorney’s fees, unless the resistance was substantially justified, the movant never tried to resolve it first, or an award would otherwise be unjust. The reverse applies if the motion fails: the court can make the movant pay the other side’s expenses on the same standard. If the motion is granted in part and denied in part, the court can apportion expenses between the parties. An order compelling discovery can also state up front that failing to comply within thirty days, or whatever other time the court or the parties set, results in dismissal or a default judgment.
Disobeying an order to provide discovery, including an order under this rule or Rule 35, opens the door to serious consequences: the court can treat disputed facts as established against the disobedient party, bar that party from supporting or opposing designated claims or defenses, strike pleadings, stay the case, dismiss it, or enter a default judgment. Refusing to be sworn or to answer after the court has directed it can be punished as contempt, and the court can add contempt sanctions for disobeying most other discovery orders, though not an order to submit to a physical or mental examination. Special provisions apply when a party fails to produce someone else for an examination ordered under Rule 35(a), unless that party shows it cannot produce the person. Whatever sanction the court chooses, it can also require the disobedient party or its attorney to pay the reasonable expenses the failure caused, absent substantial justification or other unfairness.
A separate provision covers a party who denies a request for admission under Rule 36 and later loses on that exact point. The party who proved the fact or the document’s genuineness can ask the court to order the other side to pay the expenses of that proof, including attorney’s fees. The court will decline only if the request was objectionable, the admission sought was not substantially important, the party had reasonable grounds to think it would win the point, or some other good reason justifies the refusal.
Rule 37 also addresses a party who fails to show up for its own deposition, fails to answer or object to interrogatories, or fails to respond to a request for inspection at all. Any of those triggers the same range of sanctions available for disobeying a discovery order, and a motion over the interrogatory or inspection failures must include the same good-faith certification required for a motion to compel. A party cannot excuse total silence by arguing the discovery was objectionable unless it already had a pending motion for a protective order under Rule 26(c).
Frequently Asked Questions
What has to happen before I can file a motion to compel discovery?
You must try in good faith to resolve the dispute with the other side without involving the court, and your motion has to certify that you did. An answer that is evasive or incomplete counts as no answer at all for this purpose.
What can a court do if a party disobeys a discovery order?
The options range widely: treating facts as established, barring the disobedient party from supporting or opposing certain claims or defenses, striking pleadings, staying the case, dismissing it, entering a default judgment, or holding the party in contempt. The court can also order payment of the reasonable expenses the disobedience caused.
Can I recover costs if the other side wrongly refused to admit something?
Yes. If you later prove the fact or document genuineness the other side denied, you can ask the court to make them pay your reasonable expenses of proof, including attorney’s fees. The court will refuse only for specific reasons, such as the request being objectionable or the point not being substantially important.
Source & verification. The rule text is reproduced verbatim from the
official Rhode Island Superior Court Rules of Civil Procedure (R.I. Super. Ct. R. Civ. P. 37). Prescribed by the Supreme Court of Rhode Island (R.I. Gen. Laws § 8-6-2). The plain-English summary is original and written by us. Last verified July 8, 2026. ·
Official source
Also known as:motion to compeldiscovery sanctionsfailure to comply with discovery orderdiscovery abusedefault judgment discovery violationattorney's fees discovery motionfailure to answer interrogatories