Iowa Motion to Compel

Introduction

Key Things to Know

1. 1

   Iowa's compel provision is Rule 1.517(1), captioned Motion for order compelling disclosures or discovery. It asks the district court for an order compelling an answer, a designation, or an inspection in accordance with the request. Subdivision (1)(b)(2) is the one for a discovery response: a deponent who fails to answer under Rule 1.701 or 1.710, an entity that fails to make a designation under 1.707(5), a party that fails to answer an interrogatory under 1.509, and a party that fails to produce, to respond that inspection will be permitted, or to permit inspection under 1.512. Subdivision (1)(b)(1) is the separate route for a missed Rule 1.500 disclosure. And 1.517(1)(c) flattens the usual argument: an evasive or incomplete answer is to be treated as a failure to answer.

2. 2

   Requests for admission are not on that list. Rule 1.510(3) gives the requesting party a motion to determine the sufficiency of the answers or objections. The court's menu there is different: unless it determines that an objection is justified it shall order that an answer be served; if an answer does not comply it may order either that the matter is admitted or that an amended answer be served, or defer disposition to a pretrial conference. Rule 1.510(3) borrows only the expense provision from 1.517(1)(d).

3. 3

   Nothing is in the court file, which is why Iowa prescribes what to attach. Rule 1.502 keeps depositions, interrogatories, requests for production, requests for admission and every response, document and objection out of the clerk's file altogether, and then says any motion under Rule 1.517 attacking the sufficiency of a response must have a copy of the request and response attached or the motion may be denied. That is the whole of Iowa's prescribed motion content. There is no separate statement and no itemized schedule.

4. 4

   Iowa calls the opposition a resistance. Letting the window lapse is itself a route to an order. Rule 1.517(1)(b)(4): if a motion to compel is filed and the time for resistance has expired without a resistance having been filed, the court may grant the motion without a hearing. Two more mechanics sit in the same subdivision. Any order granting the motion shall include a statement that a failure to comply may result in sanctions under Rule 1.517. And under 1.517(1)(e) the court shall direct the clerk to serve the order on counsel and on the party whose conduct necessitated the motion, so the litigant is told directly rather than only through a lawyer.

5. 5

   Iowa prescribes the shape of both sides of the paperwork and writes a consequence into each. On the answers, Rule 1.509(1)(d): a party answering interrogatories must set out each interrogatory immediately preceding the answer to it, and a failure to comply shall be deemed a failure to answer and shall be subject to sanctions as provided in Rule 1.517. On the request, Rule 1.509(1)(b): each interrogatory must be provided in an electronic word processing format unless the court orders otherwise, and one that is not is subject to objection. Rule 1.509(1)(c) and 1.512(2)(b)(4) add that a ground not stated in a timely objection is waived absent good cause, and that a party answering subject to an objection must specify the extent to which the information has not been provided.

6. 6

   No Iowa rule sets a window for bringing the motion. The silence is informative, because Iowa does write discovery waiver where it means to, twice, both times against the responding party's objections. What governs timing instead is the plan. Rule 1.507(1) requires the parties to confer no later than 21 days after any defendant has answered or appeared, with the notification duty on the plaintiff, and a pre-answer motion does not excuse it. Rule 1.507(2) makes them jointly responsible for submitting a written report outlining the plan within seven days after that conference, on Iowa Court Rule 23.5-Form 2. Rule 1.505(1)(a) bars seeking discovery from any source beforehand. Rule 1.517(7) lets the court shift fees against a party or attorney who does not take part in good faith.

7. 7

   Read Rule 1.517(1)(d) before deciding. On a granted motion, or where the discovery is provided after the motion was filed, the court shall, after opportunity for hearing, require the party or deponent whose conduct necessitated the motion, or the party or attorney advising that conduct, or both, to pay the movant's reasonable expenses including attorney's fees. Note the reach: a nonparty deponent and the advising attorney are both named. Under (1)(d)(2) a denied motion carries the same shall against the moving party or the attorney advising the motion or both. Only the split result is softer, since (1)(d)(3) lets the court apportion. And under 1.517(1)(b)(6) the court ruling on your motion may instead enter the protective order it could have made under Rule 1.504(1).

Iowa Requirements for Motion to Compel

• The Rule 1.517(5) Certification, With the Date and Time of Every Attempt

  Rule 1.517(5) provides that no motion relating to depositions, discovery, or discovery sanctions may be filed with the clerk or considered by the court unless the motion alleges that the movant has in good faith personally spoken with or attempted to speak with other affected parties in an effort to resolve the dispute without court action, and that the certification must identify the date and time of any conference or attempts. Personally spoken with is the mode the rule names, so written exchanges alone do not satisfy it. The date and time are prescribed content rather than a courtesy.

• The Iowa Subdivision, Which Is 1.517 and Never Rule 37

  Iowa's civil rules run on a 1.xxx scheme that does not track the federal numbers. The compel motion is Rule 1.517(1), with 1.517(1)(b)(2) for a discovery response and 1.517(1)(b)(1) for a missed Rule 1.500 disclosure. Only 1.517(1) is the compel motion: 1.517(2) is the award on a failure to obey an order already made, 1.517(3)(b) is the award after you later prove a matter the other side refused to admit; 1.517(4) is total default. If the device was requests for admission, the vehicle is Rule 1.510(3) instead.

• Copies of the Request and the Response, Attached

  Rule 1.502 keeps depositions, interrogatories, requests for production, requests for admission and every response, document and objection out of the clerk's file, then provides that any motion under Rule 1.517 attacking the sufficiency of a response must have a copy of the request and response attached or the motion may be denied. There is no separate statement in Iowa and no itemized schedule, so the attachment carries the whole burden and the judge has only what you supply.

• Whether Anything at All Was Served, Which Opens Rule 1.517(4)

  An inadequate response keeps you in 1.517(1), where 1.517(1)(c) treats an evasive or incomplete answer as a failure to answer. A party that failed to appear at its own deposition, or to serve answers or objections to interrogatories, or to serve any written response to a production request, also exposes itself under Rule 1.517(4), where the court may take any action authorized under 1.517(2)(b)(1), (2), (3) and (5) without a prior order. Rule 1.517(4)(d) adds that the failure may not be excused on the ground that the discovery sought is objectionable unless that party has applied for a protective order under Rule 1.504.

• The Dates, Including the Conference the Clock Cannot Start Before

  Rule 1.505(1)(a) bars a party from seeking discovery from any source before the parties have conferred as required by Rule 1.507, so record that conference date first. Then 30 days under Rule 1.509(1)(d) for interrogatory answers and objections alike, and 30 days under Rule 1.512(2)(b)(1) for a written production response. For requests for admission, Rule 1.510(2) admits the matter after 30 days but provides that unless the court shortens the time a defendant shall not be required to answer or object before the expiration of 60 days after service of the original notice. Rule 1.506's comment keeps a formal written stipulation necessary for extending that one.

• Defects in the Responses, Each With a Consequence Iowa Writes Down

  Rule 1.509(1)(d) requires the answering party to set out each interrogatory immediately preceding its answer and provides that a failure to comply shall be deemed a failure to answer and shall be subject to sanctions under Rule 1.517. Rule 1.509(1)(c) waives any ground for objecting not stated in a timely objection unless the court for good cause excuses the failure, and requires a party answering subject to an objection to specify the extent to which the information has not been provided. Rule 1.512(2)(b)(4) adds that an objection must state whether any responsive materials are being withheld. Note the mirror duty on your own side: Rule 1.509(1)(b) makes an interrogatory not provided in an electronic word processing format subject to objection.

• The Proposed Order, Which Must Carry Its Own Sanctions Warning

  Rule 1.517(1)(b)(5) provides that any order granting a motion made under the rule shall include a statement that a failure to comply with the order may result in the imposition of sanctions pursuant to Rule 1.517, so draft that sentence into the order rather than leaving it to the court. Rule 1.517(1)(e) then has the court direct the clerk to serve the order on counsel and on the party whose conduct necessitated the motion. Ask also for expenses under Rule 1.517(1)(d)(1), which the court shall award after opportunity for hearing against the party or deponent whose conduct necessitated the motion, or the party or attorney advising that conduct, or both, including where the discovery arrived after filing.

• Your Own Exposure, and the Limits the Case Is Already Inside

  Rule 1.517(1)(d)(2) runs the same shall against a losing movant or the attorney advising the motion or both, absent a finding that making it was substantially justified. Rule 1.517(1)(b)(6) lets the court ruling on your motion enter the protective order it could have made under Rule 1.504(1) instead. Check the envelope too. Rule 1.509(1)(e) caps interrogatories at 30 including all discrete subparts, with an approved pattern interrogatory and its subparts counting as one under Rule 1.509(4); Rule 1.510(1) caps requests for admission at 30. In an expedited civil action Rule 1.281(2) drops those to ten each per side and closes discovery 60 days before trial. Interrogatories are not available in small claims at all. Attorney review is available as an option.