Tennessee Motion to Compel

Introduction

Key Things to Know

1. 1

   A Tennessee motion to compel is an application under Rule 37.01(2) for an order compelling an answer, a designation or an inspection, and Rule 37.01(1) sends every version of it to one place, the court in which the action is pending, whether the person withholding is a party or a deponent who is not a party. It reaches interrogatories under Rule 33, requests for inspection under Rule 34, deposition questions under Rules 30 and 31, and entity designations under Rule 30.02(6) or 31.01. Rule 37.01(3) adds the sentence that makes it usable against a response that exists on paper: an evasive or incomplete answer is to be treated as a failure to answer.

2. 2

   The 2019 and 2020 amendments are what a Tennessee motion usually leans on. Rule 33.01 requires the reasons and grounds for an objection to an interrogatory to be stated with specificity, and requires that an objection indicate clearly whether responsive information is being withheld on the basis of that objection. Rule 34.02 requires an objection to a request for inspection to state with specificity the grounds and reasons for objecting, and to state whether any responsive materials are being withheld on the basis of it. The Advisory Commission Comment published with the 2020 amendment is blunt about the target: it is intended to make clear that vague, generalized or boilerplate objections are improper.

3. 3

   Requests for admission sit outside this motion entirely, and the paper you file is different. Rule 37.01(2) lists Rules 30, 31, 33 and 34 and does not list Rule 36. So where an answer or objection to a request for admission is inadequate, the vehicle is a Rule 36.01 motion to determine the sufficiency of the answers or objections. The remedy menu differs too: unless the court determines an objection is justified it shall order that an answer be served, and where an answer does not comply the court may order either that the matter is admitted or that an amended answer be served, or hold the question over to a pre-trial conference. Where nothing at all was served, Rule 36.01 admits the matter by operation of the rule, so there is usually nothing left to compel.

4. 4

   Read Rule 37.01(4) before deciding to file, because it points both ways. If the motion is granted 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 of them, to pay the moving party the reasonable expenses incurred in obtaining the order, including attorney's fees. If the motion is denied the same sentence runs in reverse, against the moving party or the attorney advising the motion or both. Tennessee writes only two escapes: that the position was substantially justified, or that other circumstances make an award of expenses unjust. On a split result the court may apportion the expenses in a just manner.

5. 5

   Tennessee imposes no statewide pre-filing step on this motion. Rule 37.01 asks for reasonable notice to other parties and all persons affected thereby, and nothing more. What the rules offer instead is a separate vehicle: under Rule 26.06 the court shall convene a discovery conference on any party's motion if that motion includes a statement of the issues as they then appear, a proposed plan and schedule of discovery, any proposed limitations on discovery, any other proposed discovery orders, and a statement showing a reasonable effort to reach agreement with opposing attorneys. Objections or additions are due not later than 10 days after service of the motion, and Rule 37.05 lets the court award expenses against a party who will not help frame the plan.

6. 6

   Count the response period first, because the motion is premature until it has run. Rule 33.01 gives 30 days after service of the interrogatories and Rule 34.02 the same for a request for inspection, except that a defendant may answer within 45 days after service of the summons and complaint on that defendant. Rule 36.01 uses the same pair, writing the 45 days as a floor the court may shorten. Tennessee also lets the parties move the date without a judge: Rule 29 provides that unless the court specifically orders otherwise, a written stipulation signed by all parties or counsel may modify the procedures these rules provide for methods of discovery other than depositions, which the Advisory Commission describes as removing the old bar on stipulated time extensions.

7. 7

   Tennessee sets no deadline for bringing the motion, so the dates that bind you are the ones entered in your own case. Rule 16.01 lets the court, in its discretion or on a party's motion, enter a scheduling order limiting the time to join parties and amend pleadings, to file and hear motions, and to complete discovery. A schedule once ordered shall not be modified except by leave of the judge upon a showing of good cause, and Rule 16.05 provides that the order controls the subsequent course of the action unless modified. Rule 16.06 backs it with the Rule 37.02 orders and a mandatory expense award. Rule 40 leaves the setting of cases for trial to each court's own rules, so read your judicial district's local rules alongside these.

Tennessee Requirements for Motion to Compel

• The Decimal Rule Number, and the Court the Application Goes To

  Cite Tenn. R. Civ. P. 37.01(2) for the motion itself. Tennessee uses decimal subdivisions, so Rule 37(a) is not a Tennessee citation and a reader sent to it will not find the provision. Rule 37.01(1), captioned Appropriate Court, puts the application in the court in which the action is pending whether it is directed at a party or at a deponent who is not a party, so there is no separate forum question to resolve first.

• Which Device You Served, Because Requests for Admission Leave Rule 37.01

  Rule 37.01(2) reaches a deposition question under Rule 30 or 31, an entity designation under Rule 30.02(6) or 31.01, an interrogatory under Rule 33, and a request for inspection under Rule 34. It does not list Rule 36. An inadequate answer or objection to a request for admission goes to a Rule 36.01 motion to determine the sufficiency of the answers or objections, and where nothing was served in time the matter is admitted by the rule with nothing to file.

• The Date the Response Period Ran Out, and Any Rule 29 Stipulation

  Rule 33.01 and Rule 34.02 give 30 days after service of the request, except that a defendant may answer within 45 days after service of the summons and complaint on that defendant; Rule 36.01 uses the same pair and writes the 45 days as a floor the court may shorten. State the computation in the motion, because the motion is premature until the period has run. Rule 29 provides that unless the court specifically orders otherwise, a written stipulation signed by all parties or counsel may modify the procedures these rules provide for methods of discovery other than depositions, so note any agreed extension and where it is recorded.

• Each Objection Tested Against the Specificity and Withholding Requirements

  Rule 33.01 requires the reasons and grounds for an objection to an interrogatory to be stated with specificity, and requires the objection to indicate clearly whether responsive information is being withheld on the basis of it. Rule 34.02 requires an objection to a request for inspection to state with specificity the grounds and reasons for objecting, and to state whether any responsive materials are being withheld. Take each objection in turn and say which of the two requirements it fails. The Advisory Commission Comment for the 2020 amendment records that the target is vague, generalized or boilerplate objections.

• The Requests and the Responses, Set Out by Number

  No statewide Tennessee rule prescribes a separate statement or an itemized statement for this motion, so the organisation is yours to choose. Set out each request by its number, the response or objection returned to it, and the reason an order should issue, so the order you ask the court to sign is specific enough to be complied with and enforced. Check your judicial district's local rules of practice as well, since some add requirements of their own, including a proposed order.

• Your Scheduling Order Dates for Motions and for Completing Discovery

  Tennessee sets no deadline for bringing the motion, so the binding dates are the ones in your case. Rule 16.01 lets the court, in its discretion or on a party's motion, enter a scheduling order limiting the time to join parties and amend pleadings, to file and hear motions, and to complete discovery, and provides that a schedule once ordered shall not be modified except by leave of the judge upon a showing of good cause. Rule 16.05 makes an order entered after a conference control the subsequent course of the action unless modified. Rule 40 leaves the setting of cases for trial to rules made by each court.

• The Expense Request Under Rule 37.01(4), and Your Own Exposure Under It

  Rule 37.01(4) provides that on a granted motion 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 moving party the reasonable expenses incurred in obtaining the order including attorney's fees, unless the opposition was substantially justified or other circumstances make an award unjust. The same sentence runs in reverse on a denied motion, against the moving party or the attorney advising it. On a split result the court may apportion. Support the amount, and drop marginal requests before filing.

• Whether a Total Failure Puts You on the Rule 37.04 Route Instead

  Where the other side served nothing at all, Rule 37.04 lets the court make such orders in regard to the failure as are just and, among others, take any action authorized under paragraphs (A), (B) and (C) of Rule 37.02 without a prior order compelling anything. It carries its own mandatory expense clause against the party failing to act or the attorney advising that party, and it provides 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 26.03.