Coleman v. Dydula

175 F.R.D. 177, 1997 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 13460, 1997 WL 557556
CourtDistrict Court, W.D. New York
DecidedJune 27, 1997
DocketNo. 96-CV-244C(H)
StatusPublished
Cited by6 cases

This text of 175 F.R.D. 177 (Coleman v. Dydula) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, W.D. New York primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Coleman v. Dydula, 175 F.R.D. 177, 1997 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 13460, 1997 WL 557556 (W.D.N.Y. 1997).

Opinion

ORDER

HECKMAN, United States Magistrate Judge.

This ease has been referred to the undersigned by the Hon. John T. Curtin for pretrial matters pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 636(b)(l )(A) and (B). Pending before this court is defendants’ motion for expenses incurred in bringing a motion to compel discovery (Item 8). For the reasons that follow, the motion is granted in part.

BACKGROUND

This is a diversity action for personal injuries and property damage arising from an automobile collision that occurred in Buffalo, New York on March 17, 1993, between Frances Coleman, a New York State citizen, and Jerzy Dydula, a citizen of Ontario, Canada. There were no passengers in either vehicle.

Numerous discovery disputes have arisen to date, as evidenced by the volume of correspondence on file, both between the parties and addressed to the court. On January 28, 1997, defendants filed a motion to compel (Item 8), seeking responses to interrogatories- and document demands that had been served on plaintiffs approximately nine months earlier. At the same time, defendants moved for expenses incurred in bringing the motion (Item 8). A hearing was held on May 2, 1997, after which defendants’ motion to compel was granted in part and denied in part. Specifically, defendants’ motion was granted as to sixteen of the eighteen interrogatories in dispute, and as to the single document demand then in dispute.

On April 7,1997, defendants’ attorney submitted an affidavit and supporting time sheets and invoices seeking $ 3,337.50 in fees, plus $ 597.84 in disbursements associated with bringing the motion to compel. Plaintiffs opposed the application for expenses, and this court held a hearing on the matter on May 30, 1997. Plaintiffs’ arguments are addressed below.

DISCUSSION

I. Awarding Expenses under Rule 37.

The broad scope of discovery outlined by the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure is designed to achieve disclosure of all the evidence relevant to the merits of a controversy. See Fed.R.Civ.P. 26(b)(1); Advisory Committee’s Explanatory Statement Concerning Amendments of the Discovery Rules, 48 F.R.D. 487, 497-508 (1970). In fact, the 1970 amendments to the discovery rules were designed so that discovery could proceed with a minimum of court intervention. Advisory Committee’s Statement, supra, 48 F.R.D. at 488. To that end, and for the purpose of deterring frivolous requests for or objections to discovery, Rule 37(a)(4) was amended to require that expenses be awarded on a motion to compel, absent a finding that the losing party’s position is substantially justified. Advisory Committee’s Notes on 1970 Amendments to Fed.R.Civ.P. 37(a)(4).

Rule 37(a)(4)(A) states in pertinent part:

If the motion [to compel] is granted---the court shall, after affording an opportunity to be heard, require the party or deponent whose conduct necessitated the motion ... to pay to the moving party the reasonable expenses incurred in making the motion, including attorney’s fees, unless the court finds that., the opposing party’s nondisclosure, response or objection was substantially justified, or that oth[180]*180er circumstances make an award of expenses unjust.

In the event that a motion is granted in part and denied in part, the court may “apportion the reasonable expenses incurred in relation to the motion among the parties and persons in a just manner.” Fed.R.Civ.P. 37(a)(4)(C).

Thus, unless some special circumstance exists, the losing party can avoid paying expenses only if his or her actions were substantially justified. “Substantially justified” does not mean ‘“justified to a high degree, but rather has been said to be satisfied if there is a ‘genuine dispute,’ ” over a legal issue, Pierce v. Underwood, 487 U.S. 552, 565, 108 S.Ct. 2541, 2550, 101 L.Ed.2d 490 (1988) (citing Advisory Committee’s Notes on 1970 Amendments to Fed.R.Civ.P. 37(a)(4); Quaker Chair Corp. v. Litton Business Systems, Inc., 71 F.R.D. 527, 535 (S.D.N.Y.1976)), or “if reasonable people could differ as to whether the party [from whom discovery is] requested must comply,” Reygo Pacific Corp. v. Johnston Pump Co., 680 F.2d 647, 649 (9th Cir.1982); see also 8A Charles Alan Wright, Arthur R. Miller & Richard L. Marcus, Federal Practice and Procedure § 2288, pp. 665-66.

II. Plaintiffs’ Justification for Nondisclosure.

Plaintiffs submit that their objections to defendants’ interrogatories, as set forth in their answer to the interrogatories (Item 8, Ex. 2) and their brief in support of a cross-motion to compel (Item 21) are based on solid legal reasoning and are “substantially justified.” I disagree.

For example, as I noted at the May 2, 1997 hearing on defendants’ motion, plaintiffs stated reasons for nondisclosure with respect to interrogatory 10 are frivolous and without legal basis. Interrogatory 10 seeks the name, address and specialty of each medical practitioner who examined the plaintiff, the date of each examination, and the condition treated. Plaintiffs object on the grounds that the request is overly broad and oppressive and that the term “medical practitioner” is vague and undefined.

Following the automobile accident at issue, plaintiff Frances Coleman also suffered a fall in her home for which she received medical treatment. Defendants’ interrogatory is aimed at identifying those medical records that relate to injuries allegedly suffered in the collision. Plaintiffs contend that defendants have possession of all of Ms. Coleman’s medical records and can compile this information themselves. While it is true that defendants now have Ms. Coleman’s records, it is noted that they were obtained by subpoena after plaintiffs failed to respond to defendants’ document demand for same. Document demand 2 requested only those records related to this action. Thus, had plaintiffs responded to the document demand, there would be no need to distinguish those records now. Plaintiffs have no ground for both failing to respond to document demand 2 and objecting to interrogatory 10. Therefore, any burden now complained of is of their own making. Further, plaintiffs objection to the term “medical practitioner” is unwarranted and fails to raise any genuine issue of dispute.

Plaintiffs objection to interrogatory 20 is likewise frivolous. Interrogatory 20 asks, “[d]oes Plaintiff, Frances Coleman, claim that the injuries sustained in the accident caused her to limit or cease his

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
175 F.R.D. 177, 1997 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 13460, 1997 WL 557556, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/coleman-v-dydula-nywd-1997.