Discovery Filing

Amendments to National and Local Rules Effective 12/1/2000

Fed. R. Civ. P. 5(d) (below) as amended December 1, 2000, must be followed in determining whether to file discovery materials. Fed. R. Civ. P. 26(a)(1) and (2) disclosures, as well as depositions, interrogatories, requests for documents or to permit entry upon land, and requests for admission are generally not filed with the clerkís office.

According to Fed. R. Civ. P. 83(a)(1), local rules may not be duplicative of national rules. Therefore, LR 5.2(a) and (b) were repealed effective December 1, 2000. The repeal of LR 5.2(a) and (b) does not imply that discovery is now to be filed in the Northern District of Texas.

Rule 5. Serving and Filing Pleadings and Other Papers.

(d) Filing; Certificate of Service. All papers after the complaint required to be served upon a party, together with a certificate of service, must be filed with the court within a reasonable time after service, but disclosures under Rule 26(a)(1) or (2) and the following discovery requests and responses must not be filed until they are used in the proceeding or the court orders filing: (i) depositions, (ii) interrogatories, (iii) requests for documents or to permit entry upon land, and (iv) requests for admission. (emphasis added)

Appeals: Civil or Criminal, Bankruptcy: General Information, Notice of Transfer, Attorney Desk Reference, Bankruptcy Filings, Instructions for Non-Lawyers, Civil Cases: General Instructions, Discovery Materials, Suits Against the U.S. or Employee of Govt, Removals from State Court, Default Judgment, Clerk's Entry of Default, Sensitive or Confidential: Filing a Document Under Seal, Private and Sensitive Case Info on the Internet