Also known as: Rule 26(a)(3)(A)(iii) · Fed. R. Civ. P. 26(a)(3)(A)(iii) · pretrial disclosures · witness list disclosure
Written by attorneys · grounded in primary & secondary sources — see below
A pretrial disclosure obligation requiring each party to identify every document or other exhibit it may present at trial. The identification must separately list items the party expects to offer from those it may offer only if the need arises.
Fulton Shipping served pretrial disclosures thirty days before trial listing its purchase orders and delivery receipts as exhibits it expected to offer. It also listed internal maintenance logs as items it might offer if the need arose to rebut a defense claim about equipment condition. The opposing party received the list and had fourteen days to file any objections to admissibility of the identified materials.
In the contract action, the plaintiff listed its key documents in pretrial disclosures but omitted several invoices until after the deadline. The defendant objected that the omission prevented timely preparation. The court considered whether the late identification violated the requirement to separately designate expected and contingent exhibits.
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A party must identify each document or exhibit and must separately designate those it expects to offer from those it may offer only if the need arises. This allows the opposing party to prepare objections and avoid surprise at trial.
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The disclosures must be made at least thirty days before trial unless the court orders otherwise. Objections to admissibility must then be served within fourteen days after the disclosures.
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An objection to admissibility that could have been made is waived unless the court excuses the failure for good cause. This encourages timely disclosure to facilitate trial preparation.
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Yes. The duty to supplement continues until the time pretrial disclosures are due. Material changes or additions to exhibits must be disclosed by that deadline.
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…recognition by both Congress and the Federal Rules Committees that such concerns are valid. See, e. g., 18 U. S. C. § 3432 (witness list disclosure required in capital cases three days before trial with exceptions); § 3500 (Government witness statements ordinarily subject to discovery only after testimony given); Fed. Rule Crim. Proc.…