Seeking Discovery Sanctions? Court Reminds Parties To Try Cooperation First

The explosive growth in the volume of electronically stored information shows no sign of slowing, allowing greater opportunity for discovery disputes where parties fail to work collaboratively toward solutions. A recent case from the District of North Dakota reminds lawyers of the importance of cooperation between parties in resolving discovery disputes, as well as the need to utilize available technology to manage the cost and scope of the discovery process.

In FA ND Chev, LLC v. Kupper, No. 1:20-cv-138, 2023 BL 43515 (D.N.D. Jan. 04, 2023), arising from alleged violations of non-compete and non-solicitation clauses following the sale of car dealerships by Plaintiffs to the Defendants, the court issued a discovery order requiring Plaintiffs to use search terms proposed by Defendants to search for and produce relevant emails. When Plaintiffs were unable to exclude large volumes of non-substantive documents from their search results, they proposed several