Amended Rule 34: No Boilerplate Objections, But Specificity Remains A Question

Amended in December alongside many other rules in the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, Rule 34(b)(2)(B) now requires that objections to document requests be stated with "specificity." The early applications of the amended rule demonstrate that boilerplate objections will not stand, but courts have yet to answer more nuanced questions regarding the level of specificity the amended rule requires.

Amended Rule 34(b)(2)(B) reads in pertinent part: "For each item or category, the response must either state that inspection and related activities will be permitted as requested or state with specificity the grounds for objecting to the request, including the reasons." (By contrast, the old rule required only that a party "state an objection to the request.")