§ 138.004.Stay

A discovery stay paired with a preservation duty, so that pausing the case does not cost the evidence.

Subsection (a): all discovery and other proceedings are stayed during the pendency of any motion to dismiss — unless the court finds, on motion, that particularized discovery is necessary to preserve evidence or to prevent undue prejudice to a party.

The stay protects the defendant from the cost of discovery in a claim the Legislature has barred, and works with the particularity requirement: the petition must stand on its own before anything else happens.

The exception is narrow and requires a motion. "Particularized" means targeted discovery for a stated purpose, not general discovery early.

Subsection (b) is the counterweight, and it is a substantial obligation. During any stay, a party with actual notice of the allegations shall treat all documents, data compilations — including electronically recorded or stored data — and tangible objects in its custody or control that are relevant to the allegations as if they were the subject of a continuing request for production.

That is a litigation hold imposed by statute, and it attaches on actual notice of the allegations rather than on service or on any order.

"Continuing request" is the operative phrase — it reaches material created during the stay, not only what existed when the suit was filed.

Subsection (c) supplies the remedy: a party aggrieved by the wilful failure of an opposing party to comply may apply for appropriate sanctions. Note the mental state — wilful failure, not mere failure.