Wyoming Motion for an Order Compelling Disclosure or Discovery

Introduction

Key Things to Know

1. 1

   A Wyoming motion for an order compelling disclosure or discovery is brought under Wyo. R. Civ. P. 37(a)(3), and the state's statewide rules of court sit on top of it in a way most readers miss. U.R.D.C. 801 holds attorneys to listed standards of professional behavior, and 801(a)(4) deems harassing use or scheduling of discovery a violation of those standards as well as a potential violation of the civil rules. 801(a)(3) adds that attorneys shall extend reasonable cooperation to opposing counsel and shall not arbitrarily or unreasonably withhold consent to requests for reasonable scheduling or logistical accommodations, nor condition their cooperation on disproportionate or unreasonable demands.

2. 2

   Rule 37 itself splits into two motions and you should name the right one. 37(a)(3)(A) provides that if a party fails to make a disclosure required by Rule 26(a), any other party may move to compel disclosure and for appropriate sanctions. 37(a)(3)(B) covers a discovery response, and its four clauses reach a deponent who fails to answer a question asked under Rule 30 or 31, an entity that fails to make a designation under Rule 30(b)(6) or 31(a)(4), a party who fails to answer a Rule 33 interrogatory, and a party who fails to produce documents or to permit a Rule 34 inspection. Rule 36 is not in that list.

3. 3

   Wyoming has a precondition on seeking discovery at all, and it looks at your own file rather than the calendar. Rule 26(d)(1) provides that except in a proceeding exempted from initial disclosure under Rule 26(a)(1)(B), or when authorized by the rules, by stipulation, or by court order, a party may not seek discovery from any source before the period for initial disclosures has expired and that party has provided the disclosures required under Rule 26(a)(1), (1.1), or (1.2). Rule 26(a)(1)(B) then exempts ten proceeding types, including probate, review on an administrative record, and an action to enforce an arbitration award.

4. 4

   Those initial disclosures are themselves compellable without anybody serving a request. Rule 26(a)(1)(A) requires a party, without awaiting a discovery request, to provide the people likely to have discoverable information the party may use to support its claims or defenses along with the subjects of that information, a copy or a description by category and location of the documents and electronically stored information it may so use, a computation of each category of damages claimed together with the material each computation rests on, and any insurance agreement under which an insurer may be liable to satisfy part or all of a possible judgment. 37(a)(3)(A) is what you file when those do not arrive.

5. 5

   Rule 37(a)(5) is mandatory and it is drafted backwards from the usual. If the motion is granted, or if the disclosure or requested discovery is provided after the motion was filed, the court must require the party or deponent whose conduct necessitated the motion, the party or attorney advising that conduct, or both to pay the movant's reasonable expenses including attorney's fees. The escapes are then written as a prohibition on the court: But the court must not order this payment if the movant filed before attempting in good faith to obtain the discovery without court action, if the opposing nondisclosure, response or objection was substantially justified, or if other circumstances make an award unjust. 37(a)(5)(B) runs the same must against a losing movant.

6. 6

   Deposition stonewalling has its own route in Wyoming and it is faster than a motion. U.R.D.C. 601(a) provides that where a direction to a witness not to answer is given under Rule 30(d)(1) and honored, any party may seek an immediate ruling as to the validity of that direction, and that if a prompt ruling cannot be obtained the direction may stand and the deposition should continue until a ruling is obtained or the problem resolves itself, but that a direction not to answer on any ground not specified in Rule 30(d)(1) shall not stand and the witness shall answer. 601(b) even dictates the words: if the objection is not on privilege, the proper objection is Objection stating briefly the specific ground.

7. 7

   Two Uniform Rules shape the paper on both sides of this dispute. U.R.D.C. 304 requires counsel to set forth on separate sheets of paper each different type of discovery request, for example interrogatories, requests for production and admissions, both when served and when answered. U.R.D.C. 401(a) requires every order, motion, petition and pleading to recite the case number and carry a title that briefly states its contents, and it uses this very document as its illustration: an order compelling discovery is to be titled Order Compelling Discovery rather than Order.

Wyoming Requirements for Motion to Compel

• Whether You Had Made Your Own Rule 26(a)(1) Disclosures Yet

  Rule 26(d)(1) provides that except in a proceeding exempted under Rule 26(a)(1)(B), or when authorized by the rules, by stipulation, or by court order, a party may not seek discovery from any source before the period for initial disclosures has expired and that party has provided the disclosures required under Rule 26(a)(1), (1.1), or (1.2). Both conditions must be met and the second one is about your own file, so record the date you disclosed. A request served before that is not yet owed and a motion on it is premature.

• Which Subparagraph of Rule 37(a)(3) You Are Under

  37(a)(3)(A) is to compel disclosure where a party fails to make a disclosure required by Rule 26(a), and you need not have served anything to use it. 37(a)(3)(B) is to compel a discovery response, and its four clauses reach a deponent who fails to answer a question asked under Rule 30 or 31, an entity that fails to make a designation under Rule 30(b)(6) or 31(a)(4), a party who fails to answer a Rule 33 interrogatory, and a party who fails to produce documents or to respond that inspection will be permitted or fails to permit it under Rule 34. Rule 36 is not among them.

• The Right Court Under Rule 37(a)(2)

  A motion for an order to a party must be made in the court where the action is pending, and Wyoming provides no deposition-location alternative on the party side. A motion for an order to a nonparty must be made in the court where the discovery is or will be taken. Both verbs are must. Note the words is or will be taken, which reach discovery not yet under way.

• A Proposed Order Titled So It States Its Own Contents

  U.R.D.C. 401(a) requires every order, motion and petition, and all pleadings, to recite the case number and to have a title which briefly states its contents, and it illustrates the requirement with this very document: an order compelling discovery is to be titled Order Compelling Discovery, rather than Order. Name the relief, the items and a compliance date on the face of the proposed order. U.R.D.C. 401(b) applies the same discipline to the discovery itself, requiring each different type of request to carry a title that fairly describes the document being served or answered.

• Whether the Discovery and the Answers Sat on Separate Sheets

  U.R.D.C. 304 requires counsel to set forth on separate sheets of paper each different type of discovery request, for example interrogatories, requests for production and admissions, when both served and answered. The phrase when both served and answered is the operative one, because it reaches the response as well as the request. A single combined response document covering two devices does not comply, and that is a point available on the papers without arguing about the substance of any answer.

• Proof That the Flat Thirty Days Had Run, and Any Rule 29 Stipulation

  Rule 33(b)(2), Rule 34(b)(2)(A) and Rule 36(a)(3) each give 30 days after being served, with no longer period for a defendant measured from service of process. Each adds that a shorter or longer time may be stipulated to under Rule 29 or be ordered by the court. Rule 29(b) requires court approval for a stipulation extending discovery time only where it would interfere with the time set for completing discovery, for hearing a motion, or for trial. U.R.D.C. 202 looks like a flat ban on agreed extensions but opens with the words except as may be permitted by the Wyoming Rules of Civil Procedure, and those rules permit this one. No Wyoming rule sets a period within which this motion must be brought; your dates come from the Rule 16(b) scheduling order, which must limit the time to complete discovery and to file motions.

• Your Interrogatory Count, With Discrete Subparts Included

  Rule 33(a)(1) provides that unless otherwise stipulated or ordered by the court, a party may serve on any other party no more than 25 written interrogatories, including all discrete subparts, and that leave to serve additional interrogatories may be granted to the extent consistent with Rule 26(b)(1) and (2). Count before you compel, because a set that looks compliant on its face may not be once lettered subparts are counted, and that is an objection you will have to answer. Rule 33(b)(4) runs the other way in your favour: the grounds for objecting must be stated with specificity, and any ground not stated in a timely objection is waived unless the court, for good cause, excuses the failure.

• The Expenses Request, and the Prohibition Form the Escapes Take

  Rule 37(a)(5)(A) provides that on a granted motion, or where the disclosure or requested discovery is provided after the motion was filed, the court must require the party or deponent whose conduct necessitated the motion, the party or attorney advising that conduct, or both to pay the movant's reasonable expenses including attorney's fees. The escapes are then drafted as a prohibition: But the court must not order this payment if the movant filed before attempting in good faith to obtain the discovery without court action, if the opposing nondisclosure, response or objection was substantially justified, or if other circumstances make an award unjust. 37(a)(5)(B) runs the same must against a losing movant on two findings, and 37(a)(5)(C) lets the court apportion on a split result. U.R.D.C. 901 is a separate menu for a violation of the Uniform Rules and does not require a granted motion.