Also known as: undue burden claim · undue burden claims · undue burden · undue burden standard
Written by attorneys · grounded in primary & secondary sources — see below
A discovery objection or motion asserting that requested electronically stored information or other materials are not reasonably accessible because of undue burden or cost. The responding party must demonstrate inaccessibility on that basis. If shown, the requesting party may still obtain the materials by establishing good cause, after which the court may order production subject to conditions that address the burden.
Clear Cloud stored ten years of server logs on obsolete magnetic tapes at decommissioned data centers. When Omega Networks requested restoration, Clear Cloud identified the sources as not reasonably accessible and estimated restoration costs exceeding four hundred fifty thousand dollars over four to six months. On Omega's motion to compel, Clear Cloud met its initial burden under the rule by showing inaccessibility due to undue burden and cost.
Residents requested seven years of unredacted internal affairs files and body-camera footage from the City of Redford. The city moved for a protective order, certifying a good-faith conference and citing confidentiality, officer safety, and massive review burdens. The court granted the motion after finding good cause to protect the city from undue burden and expense.
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Omega served a subpoena on Clear Cloud seeking restoration of decommissioned server logs. Clear Cloud moved to quash, demonstrating that the obsolete tapes required specialized forensic vendors and would cost over four hundred fifty thousand dollars. The court quashed the subpoena because it subjected Clear Cloud to undue burden.
Iowa enforced a statute limiting truck lengths on its highways. Consolidated Freightways challenged the law as imposing an undue burden on interstate commerce. The Court evaluated whether the state's safety justification outweighed the demonstrated burdens on out-of-state carriers.
Madison required all milk sold in the city to be pasteurized within five miles of the city limits. Dean Milk challenged the ordinance as an undue burden on interstate commerce. The Court struck down the rule because reasonable nondiscriminatory alternatives existed that would achieve the city's health objectives without burdening out-of-state suppliers.
Lopez was charged under a federal statute prohibiting firearms in school zones. He moved to dismiss, arguing that the law exceeded Congress's commerce power and imposed an undue burden on traditional state functions. The Court held that the statute lacked a sufficient connection to interstate commerce and therefore could not stand.
The party must demonstrate that the sources are not reasonably accessible because of undue burden or cost. Once that showing is made, the requesting party may still obtain the information by establishing good cause, after which the court may order production subject to conditions.
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A court may issue a protective order for good cause shown to protect a party from annoyance, embarrassment, oppression, or undue burden or expense. The motion must include a certification that the movant conferred in good faith with other parties.
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The signature certifies that, after reasonable inquiry, the objection is not interposed for an improper purpose and is neither unreasonable nor unduly burdensome or expensive in light of the needs of the case, including proportionality factors such as amount in controversy and importance of the issues.
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…of our dormant Commerce Clause jurisprudence has been the principle that the States may not impose regulations that place an undue burden on interstate commerce, even where those regulations do not discriminate between in-state and out-of-state businesses. See Brown-Forman Distillers Corp. v. New York State Liquor…