Discovery Deficiency Meet-and-Confer Letter

DISCOVERY DEFICIENCY MEET-AND-CONFER LETTER

Arkansas Circuit Court — Rule 37(a)(2)

[FIRM / ATTORNEY]

[ADDRESS]

[EMAIL] | [PHONE] | Ark. Bar No. [________]

[__/__/____]

By: [METHOD]

[OPPOSING COUNSEL / UNREPRESENTED PARTY]

[ADDRESS / EMAIL]

Re: [CASE NAME], [COURT], Case No. [________]

Dear [NAME]:

We write for [PARTY] concerning the discovery identified below. This is a good-faith effort to obtain the requested information or material without court action for purposes of Ark. R. Civ. P. 37(a)(2).

1. Discovery Record

For Rules 33, 34, and 36, the ordinary response period is 30 days after service. A defendant receives the longer of 30 days after service of the discovery or 45 days after service of the summons and complaint, subject to a permitted court order or written agreement where the governing rule allows.

Current Rules 26(a) and 33 impose no fixed numerical cap on interrogatories. If a court order or valid agreement sets a case-specific limit, identify it here: [________________________________].

2. Current Scope and Objection Standard

Rule 26(b)(1), amended effective June 4, 2026, permits discovery of nonprivileged matter relevant to a party's claim or defense and proportional to the needs of the case, considering the rule's listed factors.

The same 2026 amendments tightened written-discovery objections:

• Rule 33(b)(4) does not recognize a blanket objection to interrogatories; particular grounds must address the specific question or compound part, and unobjectionable parts must be answered.
• Rule 34(b)(2) does not recognize a blanket objection to production requests; particular grounds must be stated, unobjectionable parts produced, and the response must say whether responsive materials are being withheld on the objection.
• Rule 36(a) does not recognize a blanket objection to admissions; particular grounds must address the specific request or compound part, and remaining parts must be answered.
• Merely calling a request irrelevant, disproportionate, or otherwise improper is insufficient under each current rule.

3. Interrogatory Deficiencies

Select only supported deficiencies:

☐ The interrogatory was not repeated immediately before the answer or objection as Rule 33(b)(2) requires.

☐ The answer is not separate, full, written, and under oath to the extent required by Rule 33(b)(1).

☐ The objection does not state particular reasons or fails to answer an unobjectionable part.

☐ A blanket objection was asserted.

☐ The objection states only a label such as relevance, proportionality, overbreadth, burden, or impropriety without particular grounds.

☐ The answer improperly relies on business records without the substantially-equal-burden predicate, sufficient record specification, or examination opportunity required by Rule 33(d).

☐ The person making the answers did not sign them, or counsel did not sign the objections, as Rule 33(b)(2) requires.

☐ A materially incomplete or incorrect response has not been seasonably amended under Rule 26(e).

☐ Other: [________________________________].

4. Production-Response Deficiencies

Select only supported deficiencies:

☐ The response does not state whether inspection and related activities will be permitted.

☐ A blanket objection was asserted.

☐ The objection lacks particular grounds, does not specify the objectionable part, or prevents production of an unobjectionable part.

☐ The response does not state whether responsive materials are being withheld on the objection.

☐ The response gives no reasonable completion date, or production was not completed by the requested time or other reasonable time specified in the response.

☐ Documents were neither organized and labeled to correspond to request categories nor produced as kept in the usual course where the requesting party can locate and identify the relevant records as readily as the producing party, as Rule 34(b)(3) requires.

☐ A materially incomplete or incorrect response has not been seasonably amended under Rule 26(e).

☐ Other: [________________________________].

5. Admission-Response Deficiencies

Select only supported deficiencies:

☐ No timely answer or objection was served; identify the date and requested relief concerning any matter treated as admitted under Rule 36(a): [________________________________].

☐ The request was not repeated immediately before the answer or objection.

☐ A blanket objection was asserted or the grounds were not particular.

☐ A denial does not fairly meet the substance of the request.

☐ A qualified response does not specify what is true and qualify or deny the remainder.

☐ A lack-of-information response does not state that reasonable inquiry was made and that known or readily obtainable information remains insufficient.

☐ The answer or objection is unsigned.

☐ Other: [________________________________].

6. Privilege or Work-Product Assertion

Current Rule 26(f)(1)—not Rule 26(b)(5)—governs an assertion that otherwise discoverable information is privileged or protected trial-preparation material. The party must expressly make the claim and describe the nature of the documents, communications, or tangible things withheld sufficiently to permit assessment without revealing the protected information.

Requested cure:

☐ expressly identify the privilege or protection;

☐ describe the nature of what was withheld sufficiently to permit assessment;

☐ identify whether material was withheld in full or redacted; and

☐ use this appropriate format for the circumstances: [CATEGORICAL / ITEMIZED / OTHER: __________________].

This request does not assume that Rule 26(f)(1) invariably requires the former template's rigid document-by-document fields.

7. Requested Resolution

Please serve the following by [__/__/____]:

1. [SUPPLEMENTAL ANSWERS / AMENDED RESPONSES / PRODUCTION: __________________________________];
2. [PRIVILEGE / WORK-PRODUCT DESCRIPTION: __________________________________]; and
3. [OTHER CURE: __________________________________].

We propose a conference on:

• [__/__/____] at [____] Central Time;
• [__/__/____] at [____] Central Time; or
• [__/__/____] at [____] Central Time.

If the dispute is not resolved, [PARTY] may seek appropriate relief under Rule 37(a). Rule 37(a)(2) requires the motion's good-faith-conferral statement. Rule 37(a)(3) treats an evasive or incomplete answer or response as a failure to answer or respond. Rule 37(a)(4) governs expenses and includes different rules and exceptions depending on whether the motion is granted, denied, or granted in part.

Nothing in this letter predetermines whether a motion, expense award, protective order, or sanction is warranted. The actual requests, responses, circumstances, conferral, and governing orders control.

Sincerely,

Signature: __________________________________

[ATTORNEY NAME]

Counsel for [PARTY]

Conferral Record

Certificate of Service

I certify that on [__/__/____], I served this letter on [NAME / ADDRESS IF MAILED] by [METHOD AUTHORIZED UNDER RULE 5(b)].

Signature: __________________________________

[NAME]

Sources and References

• Arkansas Judiciary, Arkansas Rules of Civil Procedure, current through June 4, 2026.
• Arkansas Judiciary, Court Rules navigation — current rules collection.

Current official rules verified August 2, 2026 through the official Arkansas Judiciary/Lexum collection fetched via Sofya after polite direct requests timed out or returned 403. Rules 26, 33, 34, and 36 were amended effective June 4, 2026.