Fed. R. Civ. Pro. 37: Can A Prevailing Party Obtain Attorney Fees for Preparing Meet and Confer Letters

Courts sometimes require parties who lose discovery disputes to pay for the prevailing parties attorneys fees related to the dispute.  The losing party will often agree that time spent on the Motion to Compel and work subsequent to the Motion to Compel is appropriate.  They argue, however, that any and all time spent before filing the Motion to Compel “was spent in the normal course of litigation”.  This argument seeks to exclude the often time consuming "meet and confer" process.

This limitation is inconsistent with the Federal Rules. Both the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure and many Local Rules require the movant to have “conferred or attempted to confer” with the opposing party before filing a Motion to Compel. Fed. R. Civ. Pro. 37(a)(1); EDVA Local Rule 37(E).  The party bringing the discovery dispute is obligated to identify the Plaintiffs’ deficient discovery responses and seek supplementation.