Opinion
No. 01-2521 D/Bre
May 17, 2002
ORDER DENYING WITHOUT PREJUDICE PLAINTIFF'S MOTION TO COMPEL PRODUCTION OF OTHERWISE PRIVILEGED INFORMATION FROM CERTAIN DEFENDANTS
Before the court by order of reference is the motion of plaintiff, Corporate Express Office Products, Inc., to compel production of privileged information from defendants John Warren, Richard Mason, Jim Brasfield, AllPoints Business Exchange, AllPoints Office.com, Inc., and BlueGill Graphics pursuant to Rules 26 and 37 of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure. Although the defendants have not responded to the motion and the time for such response has not expired, the court deems it necessary to address plaintiffs motion at this time.
LR7.2, Local Rules of the United States District Court for the Western District of Tennessee, requires that responses to motions be filed "within fifteen days after service of the motion . . ." LR7.2(a)(2), Local Rules of the U.S. Dist. Ct. for the W. Dist. of Tenn.
The Local Rules of the United States District Court for the Western District of Tennessee ("Local Rules"), require that a certificate of consultation be filed contemporaneously with motions filed in this court. Such certificates are to affirm that, "after consultation between the parties to the controversy, they are unable to reach an accord as to all issues or that all other parties are in agreement with the action requested by the motion." LR7.2(a)(1)(B), Local Rules. "The certificate must contain the names of participating counsel and the date and manner of consultation." If an opposing attorney refuses to cooperate in a consultation, counsel must include that information in the certificate of consultation, setting forth his efforts to comply with the rule. The burden of initiating the consultation is borne by the moving party. Id. In this case, the certificate of consultation submitted by counsel for plaintiff stated as follows: "I hereby certify that I have made a good faith effort to confer with counsel for all Defendants in order to resolve this dispute." (Pl's Mot. to Compel Prod. of Otherwise Privileged Information From Certain Defs. Pursuant to Fed.R.Civ.P. 26 and 37 at 3.) The court is unable to determine from the certificate whether any conference actually occurred, much less the particulars thereof.
In addition, the memorandum filed in support of the instant motion, which included numerous attachments, runs twenty-five pages. Pursuant to the Local Rules, "memoranda in support of or in opposition to motions shall not exceed twenty pages without prior court approval." See Local Rule 7.2(e), Local Rules. The plaintiff did not request permission to exceed the twenty page limit and, therefore, the court will not consider the plaintiffs brief. Instead, the court will direct plaintiff to resubmit its responsive pleading, restricting the pages to twenty in number.
For the reasons set forth above, the plaintiffs motion to compel is DENIED WITHOUT PREJUDICE. Plaintiff is directed to submit a certificate of consultation in accordance the Local Rules and to resubmit its brief in support of the motion to compel, limiting the pages to twenty in number. The plaintiff shall file the pleadings required herein within fifteen days of the entry of this order. Failure to do so may result in this order becoming final.
IT IS SO ORDERED