Discovery Sanctions
Discovery sanctions are penalties imposed by a court on a party in a civil lawsuit who fails to comply with discovery rules or orders.
Discovery rules govern the exchange of information between parties before trial. When a party violates these rules, the court may impose sanctions to compel compliance or punish the misconduct. Trial courts have broad discretion to impose sanctions on parties or attorneys who violate discovery orders. These sanctions can range from minor monetary penalties to dismissal of the case.
Sanctions can be imposed for failure to obey a discovery order: This includes failing to provide or permit discovery following an order compelling discovery responses (which follows a motion to compel discovery responses). Sanctions may also be imposed due to abuse of the discovery process, such as obstruction, delay, or providing misleading information.
Discovery sanctions can have significant consequences for a party in a lawsuit. They can be costly and impact the sanctioned party’s ability to say or do certain things at trial. The most severe sanction, default judgment, is rare and applied only in cases of fault, willfulness, or bad faith, usually after multiple previous violations, warnings, and other sanctions. To avoid sanctions, it’s crucial to timely comply with discovery rules and orders and to work cooperatively with all counsel.
Understanding and complying with discovery rules is essential to preventing sanctions. Our law firm teaches discovery best practices to lawyers and judges, and we provide each client with comprehensive information and insight into discovery concepts. For a party to obtain discovery sanctions against a violating party, the moving party must be able to clearly identify the specific discovery order that was violated and provide evidence demonstrating the failure to comply.
Additionally, the moving party should show how the noncompliance has prejudiced the case. This could include the loss or concealment of crucial evidence, inability to adequately prepare for trial, and increased costs due to delays. For more extreme sanctions requests, the moving party should show previous attempts to compel compliance, including correspondence and prior court orders and admonitions to show that lesser sanctions such as monetary penalties or warnings have been ineffective. Ultimately, a discovery sanction should be proportionate to the violation and the resulting prejudice. An excessive sanction request can backfire if it is determined to be unreasonably harsh or punitive. The moving party must be able to persuade the judge that the sanctions are necessary to ensure the fairness and integrity of the legal process.
