Mainstreet Collection, Inc. v. Kirkland's, Inc.

270 F.R.D. 238, 2010 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 107604, 2010 WL 3945107
CourtDistrict Court, E.D. North Carolina
DecidedOctober 6, 2010
DocketNo. 4:09-CV-189-FL
StatusPublished
Cited by91 cases

This text of 270 F.R.D. 238 (Mainstreet Collection, Inc. v. Kirkland's, Inc.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, E.D. North Carolina primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Mainstreet Collection, Inc. v. Kirkland's, Inc., 270 F.R.D. 238, 2010 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 107604, 2010 WL 3945107 (E.D.N.C. 2010).

Opinion

ORDER

WILLIAM A. WEBB, United States Magistrate Judge.

This Cause comes before the Court upon Plaintiffs and Defendants’ Motions to Compel [DE-84, 86] and Plaintiffs Motion to Lower Confidentiality Designations. [DE-96]. The parties have filed memoranda supporting and opposing these motions [DE-85, 87, 97,102,106,133,134] and have requested attorneys’ fees and sanctions. For the reasons stated herein, the Motions to Compel are granted in part and denied in part. The Motion to Lower Confidentiality Designations is denied.

On October 26, 2009, Plaintiff filed a complaint against Defendants in this Court asserting, inter alia, claims for trade dress infringement and unfair competition in violation of the Lanham Act and the common and statutory law of North Carolina. [DE-1]. Plaintiff served its interrogatories and requests for documents and admissions on February 1, 2010 [DE-84, Ex. D], while Defendants served their First Production Requests on February 5, 2010 [DE-87, Ex. B] and their First Set of Interrogatories on Febru[240]*240ary 18, 2010. [DE-87, Ex. C]. Neither party responded to these requests to the satisfaction of the other, prompting the aforementioned cross motions to compel. Plaintiff also sought to lower the confidentiality designation of certain documents. The motions were referred to the undersigned by order entered June 8, 2010. [DE-117]. On July 12, 2010, the undersigned entered an order [DE-123] directing the parties to confer and file with the Court a joint status report regarding outstanding discovery disputes, which the parties filed on August 23, 2010. [DE-130]. According to the joint status report, the parties have now resolved some, but not all, of their discovery disputes and request the Court’s assistance in compelling the remaining items. These motions are therefore ripe for adjudication and will be addressed in turn.

Analysis

Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 26(b)(1) states in relevant part, “[pjarties may obtain discovery regarding any nonprivileged matter that is relevant to any party’s claim or defense.... For good cause, the court may order discovery of any matter relevant to the subject matter involved in the action.” The standard for relevance during the discovery phase differs from the standard employed at trial. In order to be relevant, the information “need not be admissible at the trial” but only “reasonably calculated to lead to the discovery of admissible evidence.” Fed.R.Civ.P. 26(b)(1). During discovery, relevance is broadly construed “to encompass any matter that bears on, or that reasonably could lead to other matter that could bear on, any issue that is or may be in the case.” Oppenheimer Fund. Inc. v. Sanders, 437 U.S. 340, 351, 98 S.Ct. 2380, 57 L.Ed.2d 253 (1978) (citing Hickman v. Taylor, 329 U.S. 495, 501, 67 S.Ct. 385, 91 L.Ed. 451 (1947)); see also Carefirst of Md., Inc. v. Carefirst Pregnancy Ctrs., Inc., 334 F.3d 390, 402 (4th Cir.2003) (stating that discovery under the Federal Rules “is broad in scope and freely permitted”).

Parties must respond truthfully, fully, and completely to discovery or explain truthfully, fully, and completely why they cannot respond. See Hansel v. Shell Oil Corp., 169 F.R.D. 303, 305 (E.D.Pa.1996). Gamesmanship to evade answering as required is not allowed. Id.; see also Outley v. City of New York, 837 F.2d 587, 590 (2d Cir.1988) (“The rules of discovery were not designed to encourage procedural gamesmanship, with lawyers seizing upon mistakes made by their counterparts in order to gain some advantage.”).

Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 33 governs interrogatories. It states that “[e]ach inteiTogatory must, to the extent it is not objected to, be answered separately and fully in writing under oath.” Fed.R.Civ.P. 33(b)(4). All objections must be stated with specificity, and any objection not raised is waived. Fed.R.Civ.P. 33(b)(4). “Mere recitation of the familiar litany that an interrogatory or a document production request is ‘overly broad, burdensome, oppressive, and irrelevant’ ” does not suffice as a specific objection. Momah v. Albert Einstein Med. Ctr., 164 F.R.D. 412, 417 (E.D.Pa.1996) (quoting Josephs v. Harris Corp., 677 F.2d 985, 992 (3d Cir.1982)). “If the objection has been properly articulated, it rests with the party seeking discovery to show that a discovery request lies within the bounds of Rule 26.” Id.

A party seeking discovery may serve a request on another party asking him to permit the requesting party “to inspect, copy, test, or sample ... any designated documents or electronically stored information ... or ... any designated tangible things” that constitute or contain matters within the scope of Rule 26(b) and which are in the possession, custody or control of the party upon whom the request is served. Fed. R.Civ.P. 34(a). While Rule 34 of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure does not contain the same specificity and waiver provisions as Rule 33 of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, the Advisory Committee notes to Rule 34 state that “[t]he procedure provided in Rule 34 is essentially the same as that in Rule 33.” Fed.R.Civ.P. 34 advisory committee notes (1970 Amend.); see also Pulsecard, Inc. v. Discover Card Servs., Inc., 168 F.R.D. 295, 303 (D.Kan.1996) (noting that the procedures provided for in Rules 33 and 34 are [241]*241essentially the same, despite subsequent amendments).

Motions to compel responses to interrogatories and requests for production are governed by Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 37(a)(3)(B), which provides that if a party declines to answer an interrogatory or request for production, the serving party “may move for an order compelling an answer, designation, production, or inspection.” The party resisting discovery bears the burden of showing why it should not be granted. Roesberg v. Johns-Manville Corp., 85 F.R.D. 292, 296-97 (E.D.Pa.1980); Rogers v. Tri-State Materials Corp., 51 F.R.D. 234, 247 (N.D.W.Va.1970).

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Bluebook (online)
270 F.R.D. 238, 2010 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 107604, 2010 WL 3945107, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/mainstreet-collection-inc-v-kirklands-inc-nced-2010.