Also known as: discovery scope · Rule 26(b) scope
Written by attorneys · grounded in primary & secondary sources — see below
A procedural limit in civil litigation that authorizes parties to obtain discovery of any nonprivileged matter relevant to a claim or defense and proportional to the needs of the case.
Scott Summers sued Spectrum Financial alleging improper account fees. He requested five years of internal compliance reports from every department. Spectrum produced only the records tied to his account. The court denied further production because the burden of searching unrelated files outweighed any marginal benefit to resolving the fee dispute.
Simon Stern sued Sterling Dynamics for employment discrimination. He sought every email sent by any manager over three years. Sterling produced only messages mentioning his name or department. The court refused the wider request because most messages lacked any connection to the termination decision.
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Steven Silva brought a securities class action against Southland Foods. He sought internal audit memos from every division. Southland produced only documents discussing the specific statements at issue. The court limited discovery to those materials because broader production would not advance the class certification inquiry.
Sean Steele sued Stonehaven Properties for breach of a development contract. He requested all internal legal memos evaluating the project. Stonehaven withheld memos prepared by its counsel. The court sustained the withholding because the memos contained legal advice and fell outside the nonprivileged scope of discovery.
Rule 26(b)(1) requires courts to weigh the importance of the issues, the amount in controversy, the parties' access to information, their resources, the importance of the discovery for resolving the issues, and whether the burden outweighs the likely benefit.
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No. Information within the scope of discovery need not be admissible in evidence if it is relevant and proportional.
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Discovery reaches only nonprivileged matter relevant to any party's claim or defense. Requests that seek information outside those claims or defenses fall beyond the permitted scope.
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The court must limit discovery that is unreasonably cumulative or duplicative or that can be obtained from a more convenient or less expensive source.
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…limitations imposed by Rule 26(b)(2)(i), (ii), and (iii).[^maj-30] In turn, Rule 26(b)(2) imposes general limitations on the scope of discovery in the form of a “proportionality test”: The frequency or extent of use of the discovery methods otherwise permitted under these rules and by any local rule shall be limited by the court…