District court — civil · Motions
Motion to Compel Discovery (Rule 37)
Asks the court to order disclosure or discovery responses.
Filed by: Any party
Not yet verified. Compiled from the national rules and not yet verified by a reviewing attorney. The national rules are amended each December 1, and local rules, standing orders and judges' practices add to them. Confirm with the current rules before filing. This is not legal advice.
What it must include
- Caption: court name, title of the action, file number and document designation (FRCP 10(a))
- Motion and grounds
- Certification of good-faith conferral to obtain the discovery without court action (FRCP 37(a)(1))
- The disputed requests and responses (often required to be quoted by local rule)
- Proposed order (required by many local rules)
- Signature of attorney of record with address, email and phone (FRCP 11(a))
- Certificate of service, unless served through the court’s electronic-filing system on registered users (FRCP 5(d)(1)(B))
Governing rules
- FRCP 37(a)
Check the local rules for
- Meet-and-confer certification before filing
- Joint letter or discovery-conference procedures before any motion
- Assigned judge’s individual practices or standing orders
Applies in federal district courts. Find your court for its local requirements.
Other motions
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