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Rule 1.503 – Scope of discovery

May 13, 2021 | Civil Procedure, Iowa

Unless otherwise limited by order of the court in accordance with the rules in this chapter, the scope of discovery shall be as provided in this division.

1. 503(1)In general. Parties may obtain discovery regarding any matter, not privileged, which is relevant to the subject matter involved in the pending action, whether it relates to the claim or defense of the party seeking discovery or to the claim or defense of any other party, including the existence, description, nature, custody, condition, and location of any books, documents, or other tangible things, the identity and location of persons having knowledge of any discoverable matter, and the identity of witnesses the party expects to call to testify at the trial. It is not ground for objection that the information sought will be inadmissible at the trial if the information sought appears reasonably calculated to lead to the discovery of admissible evidence.

a. Unless otherwise provided in a request for discovery, a request for the production of a “document” or “documents” shall encompass electronically stored information. Any reference in the rules in this division to a “document” or “documents” shall encompass electronically stored information.
b. All discovery is subject to the limitations of rule 1.503(8).
1. 503(2)Insurance agreements. In addition to the initial disclosures required by rule 1.500(1) (a)(4), a party may obtain discovery of the existence and contents of any insurance agreement under which any person carrying on an insurance business may be liable to satisfy part or all of a judgment which may be entered in the action or to indemnify or reimburse for payments made to satisfy the judgment. Information concerning the insurance agreement is not by reason of disclosure admissible in evidence at trial. For purposes of this rule, an application for insurance shall not be treated as part of an insurance agreement.
1. 503(3)Trial-preparation materials. Subject to the provisions of rule 1.508, a party may obtain discovery of documents and tangible things otherwise discoverable under rule 1.503(1) and prepared in anticipation of litigation or for trial by or for another party or by or for that other party’s representative (including the party’s attorney, consultant, surety, indemnitor, insurer, or agent) only upon a showing that the party seeking discovery has substantial need of the materials in the preparation of the case and that the party seeking discovery is unable without undue hardship to obtain the substantial equivalent of the materials by other means. In ordering discovery of such materials when the required showing has been made, the court shall protect against disclosure of the mental impressions, conclusions, opinions, or legal theories of an attorney or other representative of a party concerning the litigation.

A party may obtain without the required showing a statement concerning the action or its subject matter previously made by that party. Upon request, a person not a party may obtain without the required showing a statement concerning the action or its subject matter previously made by that person. If the request is refused, the person may move for a court order. The provisions of rule 1.517(1) (d) apply to the award of expenses incurred in relation to the motion. For purposes of this rule, a statement previously made is any of the following:

a. A written statement signed or otherwise adopted or approved by the person making it.
b. A stenographic, mechanical, electrical, or other recording, or a transcription thereof, which is a substantially verbatim recital of an oral statement by the person making it and contemporaneously recorded.
1. 503(4)Supplementing disclosures and responses. A party who has made a disclosure under rule 1.500, or who has responded to a request for discovery, must timely supplement or correct the party’s disclosure or response as follows:

a. A party must timely supplement or correct any disclosure or response that concerns any of the following:

(1) The identity and location of persons having knowledge of discoverable matters.
(2) The identity of each person expected to be called as a witness at trial.
(3) Any matter that bears materially upon a claim or defense asserted by any party to the action.
b. A party is under a duty seasonably to supplement or correct its disclosure or a prior response if the party learns that in some material respect the disclosure or response is incomplete or incorrect, and if the additional or corrective information has not otherwise been made known to the other parties during the discovery process or in writing.
c. As provided in rule 1.508(3), a party must supplement discovery as to experts and the substance of their testimony.
d. An additional duty to supplement responses may be imposed by order of the court, agreement of the parties, or at any time prior to trial through new requests to supplement prior responses.

Note:COMMENT:

1. 503(5)Claims of privilege or protection of trial-preparation materials.

a. Information withheld. When a party withholds information otherwise discoverable under these rules by claiming that it is privileged or subject to protection as trial-preparation material, the party shall make the claim expressly and shall describe the nature of the documents, communications, or things not produced or disclosed in a manner that, without revealing information itself privileged or protected, will enable other parties to assess the applicability of the privilege or protection.
b. Information produced. If information is produced in discovery that is subject to a claim of privilege or of protection as trial-preparation material, the party making the claim may notify any party that received that information of the claim and the basis for it. After being notified, a party must promptly return, sequester, or destroy the specified information and any copies it has and may not use or disclose the information until the claim is resolved. A receiving party may promptly present the information to the court under seal for a determination of the claim. If the receiving party disclosed the information before being notified, it must take reasonable steps to retrieve it. The producing party must preserve the information until the claim is resolved.
1. 503(6)Signing disclosures and discovery requests, responses, and objections.

a. Signature required; effect of signature. Every disclosure under rule 1.500 and every discovery request, response, or objection must be signed by at least one attorney of record in the attorney’s own name-or by the party personally, if unrepresented-and must state the signer’s name, law firm, or name of partnership, association, corporation, or tribe on behalf of which the filing agent is signing, and mailing address, telephone number, and electronic mail address. By signing, an attorney or party certifies that to the best of the person’s knowledge, information, and belief formed after a reasonable inquiry:

(1) The disclosure is complete and correct as of the time it is made.
(2) The discovery request, response, or objection is:

1. Consistent with these rules and warranted by existing law or by a nonfrivolous argument for extending, modifying, or reversing existing law, or for establishing new law.
2. Not interposed for any improper purpose, such as to harass, cause unnecessary delay, or needlessly increase the cost of litigation.
3. Neither unreasonable or unduly burdensome or expensive, considering the needs of the case, prior discovery in the case, the amount in controversy, and the importance of the issues at stake in the action.
b. Failure to sign. Other parties have no duty to act on an unsigned disclosure, request, response, or objection until it is signed, and the court must strike it unless a signature is promptly supplied after the omission is called to the attorney’s or party’s attention.
c. Sanction for improper certification. If a certification violates this rule without substantial justification, the court, on motion or on its own, shall impose an appropriate sanction on the signer, the party on whose behalf the signer was acting, or both. The sanction may include an order to pay the reasonable expenses, including attorney fees, caused by the violation.

Note:COMMENT:

1. 503(7)Reliance on disclosures and discovery responses of other parties. Any party may rely on any other party’s disclosures or discovery responses to the extent permitted by otherwise applicable evidentiary rules and regardless of when that party is joined. Unless requested to do so by a current party, the responding party has no duty to supplement its responses to discovery requests after the propounding party has been dismissed from the case.
1. 503(8)Limitations on frequency and extent. On motion or on its own, the court shall limit the frequency or extent of discovery otherwise allowed by these rules if it determines that:

a. The discovery sought is unreasonably cumulative or duplicative, or can be obtained from some other source that is more convenient, less burdensome, or less expensive;
b. The party seeking discovery has had ample opportunity to obtain the information by discovery in the action; or
c. The burden or expense of the proposed discovery outweighs its likely benefit, considering the needs of the case, the amount in controversy, the parties’ resources, the importance of the issues at stake in the action, and the importance of the discovery in resolving the issues.

Iowa. R. Civ. P. 1.503

Report 1943; amendment 1973; amended by 65GA, ch 315, ? 3; amendment 1980; Report February 13, 1986, effective July 1, 1986; May 28, 1987, effective August 3, 1987; October 31, 1997, effective January 24,1998; November 9, 2001, effective February 15, 2002; February 14, 2008, effective May 1, 2008; August 28, 2014, effective January 1, 2015.

Rule 1.503(2). Notwithstanding the initial disclosure obligation in rule 1.500(1) (a)(4), rule 1.503(2) clarifies that additional discovery regarding insurance is still allowed, but the fruits of that discovery will not necessarily be admissible.

Rule 1.503(4)(b). The amendment eliminates the “knowing concealment” requirement that had triggered the duty to supplement incorrect discovery responses. Rule 1.503(4)(b) now tracks the federal rule by requiring supplementation of any response that the answering party learns is materially incomplete or incorrect unless that information has already otherwise been disclosed in discovery. See Fed. R. Civ. P. 26(e)(1)(A).

COMMENT:

Rule 1.503(6). The rule is patterned on Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 26(g). Having a separate certification requirement tailored specifically to discovery more effectively deters discovery abuse. See rule 1.413(1) (providing that its certification obligation does not apply to discovery).

COMMENT: Rule 1.503(4) states the duty to supplement in the affirmative and expands that duty to require supplementation as to material matters and as to experts.