Also known as: automatic disclosures · mandatory disclosure · initial disclosure
Written by attorneys · grounded in primary & secondary sources — see below
A mandatory exchange of basic case information that parties must provide to each other at the start of litigation without awaiting a discovery request. The requirement covers the identity of witnesses and documents a party may use to support its claims or defenses. A party must base its disclosures on information then reasonably available and may not withhold them because investigation remains incomplete.
Adam Anderson sues Alliance Holdings for breach of contract. The parties have not yet held their required conference. Alliance Holdings therefore cannot serve interrogatories or document requests. It must nevertheless prepare and serve its automatic disclosures listing the witnesses and records it may use at trial.
Alexandra Armstrong files suit against Artemis Logistics. A scheduling conference is set for thirty days later. The parties must confer at least twenty-one days before that date. During the conference they arrange the timing of their automatic disclosures of witnesses and documents.
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Parties must make automatic disclosures as part of the initial disclosure process under Rule 26(a)(1). The disclosures occur after the parties confer under Rule 26(f) unless the court orders otherwise or the case is exempt.
No. A party must make its initial disclosures based on information then reasonably available. It is not excused because it has not fully investigated the case or because it challenges another party's disclosures.
The disclosures must identify individuals likely to have discoverable information and describe categories of documents that the party may use to support its claims or defenses.
…cardholder agreement, his rights under such federal statutes as TILA. (15 U.S.C. § 1601 et seq.).[^maj-4] This statute imposes mandatory disclosure requirements for consumer credit transactions, including those arising on credit card accounts. As to the latter, the statute provides for detailed disclosure of the terms on which credit…