Also known as: pretrial disclosure · pre-trial disclosure · pre-trial disclosures · pretrial discovery
Written by attorneys · grounded in primary & secondary sources — see below
Lists exchanged by parties that identify the witnesses they expect to call at trial, the deposition testimony they intend to present, and the exhibits they plan to offer. These lists must be provided at least thirty days before trial unless the court orders otherwise.
Paragon Construction and Pulse Media are set for trial in six weeks on a contract dispute. Paragon serves its list of expected trial witnesses, deposition excerpts, and exhibits on Pulse Media. Pulse Media reviews the list and within two weeks serves written objections to two deposition designations and one exhibit on relevance grounds.
Peter Park is arraigned on fraud charges. Fourteen days later his counsel meets with the prosecutor. They agree on a schedule under which the government will turn over its witness list and exhibits three weeks before the scheduled trial date.
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Pearl Porter sues Phoenix Technologies for trade-secret misappropriation. The parties exchange pretrial witness and exhibit lists. Phoenix moves for a protective order restricting public disclosure of certain customer-identification exhibits on the lists.
Priscilla Parks obtains a pretrial order compelling production of documents listed in her opponent's exhibit disclosures. The producing party seeks immediate appellate review of the order.
Priya Prasad's deposition testimony is designated on the opposing party's pretrial disclosure list. The court enters a protective order limiting dissemination of the deposition transcript outside the litigation.
Penelope Price serves pretrial witness and exhibit lists in a diversity action. The defendant moves to dismiss, arguing the lists reveal insufficient contacts with the forum state.
Parties must serve the required lists of witnesses, deposition designations, and exhibits at least thirty days before trial unless the court sets a different deadline. Objections to those disclosures must be served within fourteen days after they are made.
The duty to supplement expert reports and deposition testimony continues until the time pretrial disclosures are due. Failure to supplement materially changed information can result in exclusion of the expert's testimony at trial.
Yes. A party must disclose the identity of any witness it may use at trial to present evidence under those rules, along with the subject matter of the testimony and a summary of the facts and opinions when no report is required.
A party that learns its prior disclosures are materially incomplete must supplement them in a timely manner, and any additions or changes to expert information must be disclosed by the time pretrial disclosures are due.
…protecting antitrust defendants — who in this case are some of the wealthiest corporations in our economy — from the burdens of pretrial discovery. Even if it were not apparent that the legal fees petitioners have incurred in arguing the merits of their Rule 12(b) motion have far exceeded the cost of limited discovery, or that those…