Service and Filing of Discovery Material.

Filing Not Generally Required. Interrogatories, requests for documents, requests for (a) admission, answers, and responses thereto must be served upon opposing parties and their counsel, but they should not be routinely filed with the Bankruptcy Court. The party responsible for service of the discovery material must, however, file a certificate with the Bankruptcy Clerk indicating the date of service. The party must also retain the original discovery material and become its custodian.

The original of all depositions upon verbal examination must be retained by the party taking the deposition. (b) Selective Filing Required for Motions, Trial, and Appeal. (1) The custodial party must file with the Bankruptcy Clerk at the time of use at trial or with the filing of a motion, those portions of depositions, interrogatories, requests for documents, requests for admission, answers, and responses thereto which are used at trial or which are necessary to the motion. (2) Where discovery materials not previously in the record are needed for appeal purposes, the Bankruptcy Court may order, or counsel may stipulate in writing, that the necessary materials will be filed with the District Court Clerk.

Depositions Under Seal. At the request of any attorney of record in the case, the (c) Bankruptcy Clerk may open the original copy of any deposition which has been filed with the Bankruptcy Clerk in accordance with this rule. The Bankruptcy Clerk will note on the deposition the date and time at which the deposition was opened. The deposition shall not be removed from the Bankruptcy Clerk’s office.

BLR 7037-1. Motions to Compel Discovery. (a) Good Faith Effort to Resolve Disputes. Counsel and unrepresented parties have the duty to make a good faith effort to resolve by agreement among themselves any disputes that arise in the course of discovery.

(b) Form of Motion. When, despite their good faith efforts, discovery disputes cannot be resolved without the intervention of the Bankruptcy Court, a party may, subject to subsection (e) below, file a motion to compel discovery in accordance with Rules 26, 33, 34, 36, and 37 of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure. The moving party must attach to the motion a statement certifying that counsel for movant, or the movant, if unrepresented, has in good faith conferred or attempted to confer with the party not making disclosure or discovery in an effort to secure disclosure or discovery by agreement but that such efforts were not successful. The motion must also state the issues that remain to be resolved.

A motion to compel must: Quote verbatim each interrogatory, request for admission, or request for production (1) to which objection is taken; (2) State the specific objection; State the grounds assigned for the objection (if not apparent from the objection); (3) and Cite authority and include a discussion of the reasons assigned as supporting the (4) motion. The motion must be arranged so that the objection, grounds, authority, and supporting reasons follow the verbatim statement of each specific interrogatory, request for admission, or request for production to which an objection is raised. If the ground for the motion to compel is the opposing party’s failure to respond, the movant need attach copies of the discovery requests only. Procedures.

Motions to compel and responses thereto are subject to the general motion (c) requirements set forth in BLR 7007-1 and subsection (e) below. A response to a motion to compel must be served within fourteen days after service of the motion. Time Limitation for Filing. A motion to compel discovery must be filed within the later (d) of (i) the close of discovery or (ii) twenty-one days after the date for responding to the discovery request(s) upon which the motion is based, unless the Bankruptcy Court orders otherwise.

The close of discovery is established by the expiration of the original or extended discovery period or by written notice of all counsel, filed with the Bankruptcy Court, indicating that discovery was completed earlier. Telephonic Conference. A Bankruptcy Judge may require that, prior to filing a motion to (e) compel or for a protective order, the parties participate in a conference with the Court to determine whether the issues can be narrowed or resolved without the filing of pleadings. A party, or the parties jointly, may request such a conference.