A Blog About Intellectual Property Litigation and the District of Delaware


Entries for tag: Discovery Disputes

In Response to Objection That Discovery Dispute is Premature, Judge Burke Orders Parties to Meet-and-Confer for a Set Number of Hours, and Explains How to Meet-and-Confer

Andrew E. Russell, Jan. 10, 2024
Discovery Disputes Discovery Dispute

"Counsel, go stand in the corner until you figure out what 'collegiality' means." Mag Pole, Unsplash

Several District of Delaware judges have discovery dispute procedures that require parties to first file a letter stating that the parties have met and conferred but are unable to resolve some disputes, and list the disputes.

This usually works out well, but a few issues can occasionally come up with this procedure. For example:

  1. One party refuses to meet-and-confer, forcing the other side to file solo.
  2. The parties have met and conferred to death, but one party refuses to sign the the joint letter anyway (or just refuses to respond), solely for the purpose of delay.
  3. One or more parties jump the gun, …
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Keys, Phone, Wallet, Delaware Counsel

Nathan R. Hoeschen, Nov. 16, 2023
Discovery Disputes

Even occasional Delaware practitioners will be aware of the meet and confer requirement for non-dispositive motions embodied in LR 7.1.1:

. . . every nondispositive motion shall be accompanied by an averment of counsel for the moving party that a reasonable effort has been made to reach agreement with the opposing party on the matters set forth in the motion. Unless otherwise ordered, failure to so aver may result in dismissal of the motion. For purposes of this Rule, “a reasonable effort” must include oral communication that involves Delaware counsel for any moving party and Delaware counsel for any opposing party.

This rule gets an additional piquante twist in the context of discovery disputes, wherein several judges' procedures require …

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Judge Fallon's New Discovery Dispute Procedures: What Changed?

Andrew E. Russell, Aug. 9, 2023
Discovery Disputes Procedures

Artist's rendition of a typical discovery dispute letter, where counsel did not excerpt the exhibits.
Artist's rendition of a typical discovery dispute letter, where counsel did not excerpt the exhibits. ron dyar, Unsplash

We're still catching up from our two-week break here at IP/DE, and this is another item on our list. Last month Magistrate Judge Fallon issued updated discovery dispute procedures (attached below).

The most common question when these come out is: what changed? The judges don't usually issue redlines, and of course, the old procedures normally disappear from the website immediately (although they are usually available via the Wayback Machine).

Here, the procedures are largely the same, with some minor additions:

  • The required proposed order must list relief for each dispute.
  • Each party should attach only the relevant pages of cited …
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