Federal Requests for Production of Documents

FEDERAL REQUESTS FOR PRODUCTION OF DOCUMENTS,

ELECTRONICALLY STORED INFORMATION, AND TANGIBLE THINGS

Pursuant to Fed. R. Civ. P. 34

Instructions for Use

Legal Basis: Fed. R. Civ. P. 34(a)(1) permits a party to request production of any designated documents, electronically stored information (ESI), or tangible things within the scope of Rule 26(b)(1) that are in the possession, custody, or control of the responding party.

Response Deadline: Responding party must serve a written response within 30 days after being served. If the request was delivered under Rule 26(d)(2), the response is due within 30 days after the parties' first Rule 26(f) conference.

2015 Amendment — Specificity of Objections: Rule 34(b)(2)(B) now requires that objections must be stated with specificity. General or boilerplate objections (e.g., "overbroad, unduly burdensome, and not reasonably calculated to lead to the discovery of admissible evidence") are improper and may be overruled.

2015 Amendment — Disclosure of Withholding: Under Rule 34(b)(2)(C), an objecting party must state whether any responsive materials are being withheld on the basis of that objection. This obligation prevents "stealth withholding" behind objections.

Proportionality: All requests must be proportional to the needs of the case under Rule 26(b)(1), considering: the importance of the issues, the amount in controversy, the parties' relative access to information, the parties' resources, the importance of the discovery in resolving the issues, and whether the burden or expense outweighs the likely benefit.

ESI Considerations:

• If a request does not specify a form for producing ESI, the responding party must produce it in the form in which it is ordinarily maintained or in a reasonably usable form (Rule 34(b)(2)(E)).
• A party need not produce the same ESI in more than one form.
• Inaccessible ESI (e.g., legacy systems, backup tapes) need not be produced absent a showing of good cause (Rule 26(b)(2)(B)).

Document Production Formats: Parties should negotiate ESI production format in the Rule 26(f) conference and specify format requirements in requests (e.g., native format, TIFF with load files, PDF).

Rolling Production: The parties may agree to, or the court may order, rolling production of documents. If a responding party intends to produce on a rolling basis, it should so state in its response.

Court Caption

IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
FOR THE [________________________________] DISTRICT OF [________________________________]
[________________________________] DIVISION

[________________________________],
Plaintiff,

v. Case No. [____________________]

[________________________________],
Defendant.

REQUESTS FOR PRODUCTION OF DOCUMENTS AND ELECTRONICALLY STORED INFORMATION

[First / Second / Supplemental] Set

Propounding Party: [________________________________]
Responding Party: [________________________________]
Set Number: [____]
Date Served: [__/__/____]
Response Due: [__/__/____] (30 days from date of service)

Definitions

As used in these Requests, the following definitions apply:

1. "Document" has the broadest meaning permitted by Fed. R. Civ. P. 34(a)(1) and includes any writing, drawing, graph, chart, photograph, audio recording, video recording, electronically stored information, and any other data compilation from which information can be obtained or translated.

2. "Electronically Stored Information" or "ESI" means any data or information stored in electronic form, including emails, text messages, instant messages, chat logs, calendar entries, word processing documents, spreadsheets, databases, social media posts, and metadata.

3. "Communication" means any oral, written, or electronic transmission or exchange of information, including emails, letters, text messages, voicemails, meeting minutes, and notes of telephone calls.

4. "Concerning," "Relating to," or "Regarding" means directly or indirectly referring to, describing, evidencing, constituting, supporting, contradicting, or otherwise pertaining to.

5. "Person" includes natural persons, corporations, limited liability companies, partnerships, trusts, governmental entities, and any other legal entity.

6. "You" or "Your" means [Responding Party] and its officers, directors, employees, agents, attorneys, representatives, predecessors, successors, affiliates, and subsidiaries.

7. "Plaintiff" means [Plaintiff Name] and its agents, employees, and representatives.

8. "Defendant" means [Defendant Name] and its agents, employees, and representatives.

9. "Agreement" means [describe the agreement at issue], including all drafts, amendments, and related correspondence.

10. "Complaint" means the [First Amended / Second Amended] Complaint filed by Plaintiff in this action on [__/__/____].

11. "Relevant Period" means [__/__/____] through [__/__/____], unless otherwise specified.

12. "Possession, custody, or control" means materials that the party has actual possession of, has the right to obtain on demand, or has the legal right to control.

Instructions to Responding Party

1. Produce all responsive documents within 30 days of service, or state specific grounds for objection with particularity as required by Rule 34(b)(2)(B).

2. State whether materials are withheld: If you object to any portion of a request, state whether any responsive materials are being withheld on the basis of that objection, per Rule 34(b)(2)(C).

3. Privilege log: If any responsive document is withheld on grounds of privilege or work-product protection, identify such document in a privilege log as required by Rule 26(b)(5)(A).

4. ESI format: Produce ESI in [native format / single-page TIFF images with OCR text and load files / PDF] unless otherwise agreed. Preserve all metadata unless the parties agree otherwise.

5. Organization: Produce documents either (a) as kept in the usual course of business, or (b) organized and labeled to correspond to the categories of the specific Requests, per Rule 34(b)(2)(E)(i).

6. Continuing obligation: Supplement your production as required by Rule 26(e) if you later learn that a prior response is incomplete or incorrect.

7. No destruction: Do not destroy, delete, alter, or otherwise dispose of any responsive documents. Litigation hold obligations apply to all potentially responsive materials.

8. Rolling production: If you intend to produce responsive documents in batches over time, please state so in your response and provide a production schedule.

Requests for Production

Part A: Core Case Documents

REQUEST FOR PRODUCTION NO. 1: All Documents and Communications concerning the Agreement, including but not limited to all drafts, negotiations, amendments, extensions, termination notices, and correspondence relating to the formation, performance, or breach of the Agreement.

REQUEST FOR PRODUCTION NO. 2: All Documents and Communications concerning [Propounding Party]'s claims or allegations as set forth in the Complaint, including all Documents You reviewed or relied upon in formulating any defense to those claims.

REQUEST FOR PRODUCTION NO. 3: All Documents and Communications concerning any defenses You intend to assert in this action, including any affirmative defenses set forth in Your answer.

REQUEST FOR PRODUCTION NO. 4: All Documents and Communications between You and [Propounding Party] from [__/__/____] through the present, concerning the subject matter of this litigation.

REQUEST FOR PRODUCTION NO. 5: All Documents and Communications between You and any third party concerning the subject matter of this litigation, including but not limited to communications with [________________________________].

Part B: ESI — Email and Electronic Communications

REQUEST FOR PRODUCTION NO. 6: All emails, including attachments, sent or received by the following custodians concerning the subject matter of this litigation:

• [Name / Title: ________________________________]
• [Name / Title: ________________________________]
• [Name / Title: ________________________________]

(Time period: [__/__/____] through [__/__/____])

REQUEST FOR PRODUCTION NO. 7: All text messages, instant messages, or other electronic communications (including Slack, Microsoft Teams, WhatsApp, Signal, or similar platforms) sent or received by any of Your employees or agents concerning the subject matter of this litigation.

REQUEST FOR PRODUCTION NO. 8: All Documents stored on Your company servers, cloud storage platforms (including Google Drive, Microsoft SharePoint, Dropbox, or similar), or shared drives that concern the subject matter of this litigation.

Part C: Financial and Business Records

REQUEST FOR PRODUCTION NO. 9: All financial statements, balance sheets, income statements, cash flow statements, and related financial records for the period from [__/__/____] through [__/__/____] that are relevant to the claims or defenses in this action.

REQUEST FOR PRODUCTION NO. 10: All invoices, purchase orders, receipts, payment records, and accounts receivable or payable records concerning the Agreement or the subject matter of this litigation.

REQUEST FOR PRODUCTION NO. 11: All agreements, contracts, or arrangements between You and any third party that are relevant to the claims or defenses in this action.

Part D: Personnel and Internal Records

REQUEST FOR PRODUCTION NO. 12: All personnel files, performance reviews, disciplinary records, or employment records for any person whose conduct is at issue in this litigation. (Note: Produce subject to any agreed protective order for confidential personnel information.)

REQUEST FOR PRODUCTION NO. 13: All internal policies, procedures, manuals, handbooks, or guidelines in effect during the Relevant Period that are relevant to the claims or defenses in this action.

REQUEST FOR PRODUCTION NO. 14: All meeting minutes, board resolutions, committee reports, or internal presentations concerning the subject matter of this litigation.

Part E: Insurance and Indemnification

REQUEST FOR PRODUCTION NO. 15: All insurance policies, including declarations pages, endorsements, and excess or umbrella policies, that may provide coverage for any of the claims alleged in this action, as required by Fed. R. Civ. P. 26(a)(1)(A)(iv).

REQUEST FOR PRODUCTION NO. 16: All communications with any insurer or insurance broker concerning coverage for the claims alleged in this action, including any reservation-of-rights letters or coverage denials.

Part F: Expert and Investigative Materials

REQUEST FOR PRODUCTION NO. 17: All reports, studies, analyses, or opinions prepared by any expert, consultant, or investigator retained by You in connection with this litigation or the underlying subject matter. (Non-testifying expert materials may be subject to work-product protection; provide a privilege log for any withheld materials.)

REQUEST FOR PRODUCTION NO. 18: All Documents provided to or considered by any expert You intend to call as a witness at trial or hearing in this action.

Part G: Damages and Mitigation

REQUEST FOR PRODUCTION NO. 19: All Documents concerning any damages You claim to have suffered or any damages You contend [Propounding Party] did not suffer in connection with this action.

REQUEST FOR PRODUCTION NO. 20: All Documents concerning any efforts You made to mitigate Your alleged damages or any contention that [Propounding Party] failed to mitigate its damages.

Part H: Trial Exhibits

REQUEST FOR PRODUCTION NO. 21: All Documents You intend to use or introduce as exhibits at trial or at any hearing in this action.

REQUEST FOR PRODUCTION NO. 22: All Documents You may use to support or oppose any motion for summary judgment in this action.

Additional Case-Specific Requests

(Insert additional requests tailored to the specific claims and defenses in this case.)

REQUEST FOR PRODUCTION NO. 23: [________________________________]

REQUEST FOR PRODUCTION NO. 24: [________________________________]

REQUEST FOR PRODUCTION NO. 25: [________________________________]

Requested ESI Production Format

Unless otherwise agreed by the parties:

☐ Native Format — Produce all ESI (email, Word, Excel, PowerPoint) in native format with all metadata intact.
☐ TIFF with Load Files — Produce single-page TIFF images at 300 dpi, with OCR text, a document-level text file, and Concordance/Relativity-compatible load files (DAT and OPT files). Metadata fields required: [________________________________].
☐ PDF — Produce documents as text-searchable PDFs.
☐ As Agreed — Production format as agreed in the Rule 26(f) ESI Protocol.

Bates Numbering: All produced documents shall be Bates-numbered sequentially using the prefix: [________________________________].

Signature Block

Respectfully submitted,

[________________________________]
[Attorney Name]
[Bar Number: ____]
[Law Firm: ________________________________]
[Address: ________________________________]
[City, State, ZIP: ________________________________]
[Phone: ________________________________]
[Email: ________________________________]

Counsel for [________________________________]
Date: [__/__/____]

Certificate of Service

I hereby certify that on [__/__/____], I served a true and correct copy of the foregoing Requests for Production upon the following counsel of record by the method indicated:

☐ Electronic filing via CM/ECF
☐ Electronic mail to: [________________________________]
☐ U.S. Mail, first-class postage prepaid
☐ Hand delivery

Counsel Served:
[Attorney Name], [Law Firm], Counsel for [________________________________]

[________________________________]
[Attorney Name]

Sources and References

• Fed. R. Civ. P. 34 – LII/Legal Information Institute
• 2024 Federal Rules of Civil Procedure – Rule 34
• Bricker & Graydon: 2015 e-Discovery Amendments
• Fred Law: Changes to Rule 34 Post-2015