How to File a Motion to Compel Discovery in Massachusetts

To file a motion to compel discovery in Massachusetts Superior Court, you confer with opposing counsel by phone or in person, then submit a motion, a memorandum of law, a discovery brief that pairs each disputed request with the response and your argument, a certificate documenting the conference, and supporting exhibits. The process runs on Massachusetts Rules of Civil Procedure 26 and 37 together with Superior Court Rules 9A and 9C. Skip any required piece and the court will deny the motion without reaching the merits.

When You Have Grounds and When the Clock Starts

Rule 37 lets you move to compel when the opposing party fails to answer interrogatories, refuses to produce documents, or gives an evasive or incomplete response. An evasive or incomplete answer counts the same as no answer at all.¹

Common triggers include a missed response deadline, a partial production with no explanation for the gap, and blanket boilerplate objections that never engage with substance. If you asked for five years of financial records and got two with no explanation, that is a textbook basis. So is an “overly broad” or “unduly burdensome” objection unsupported by any narrowing offer.

Before you can call a response late, confirm the deadline. Massachusetts sets different response periods by discovery type:

Interrogatories: 45 days after service.²
Document requests: 30 days after service, extended to 45 days for a defendant served with the initial complaint.³
Requests for admission: 30 days after service, with the same 45-day window for newly served defendants.⁴

The court can shorten or extend any of these periods. If you agreed in writing to an extension, that new date is the deadline that matters. Filing the day after the original date, with an agreed extension in the file, will cost you credibility with the judge.

Hold the Rule 9C Good Faith Conference

Superior Court Rule 9C requires you to confer with opposing counsel before filing any discovery motion, and the conference must be by telephone or in person. A letter or email does not satisfy the rule.⁵

The moving party initiates. On the call, walk through each disputed request, explain specifically why the response is deficient, and identify what you expect to receive. If the other side agrees to supplement some responses, note which requests remain in dispute. Only those belong in the motion.

If the other side ignores your outreach or refuses to participate, document every effort you made. The rule accounts for that: your certificate can state that the conference did not occur despite reasonable efforts, provided you describe what you did.⁵

The Documents You File

A motion to compel is a packet, not a single document. Rule 9A governs general format; Rule 9C adds discovery-specific requirements.

The Motion

A short document that identifies the case, the specific discovery at issue, and the relief you want the court to order. If you want a hearing, request it in the motion.⁶

The Memorandum of Law

Rule 9A requires a separate memorandum stating the legal reasons the motion should be granted, with supporting authorities. This is where you argue relevance under Rule 26(b), address the specific objections raised, and explain why the court should compel. The memorandum cannot exceed 20 pages, must use 12-point double-spaced type on standard letter-size paper, and must include your email address.⁶

Discovery in Massachusetts is defined broadly. Under Rule 26(b)(1), you can seek anything relevant to the subject matter of the case and not privileged; the information need not be admissible at trial, only reasonably calculated to lead to admissible evidence.⁷ Anticipate objections in the memorandum. If a request is expensive to comply with, explain why the information matters enough to justify the cost. If the other side has exclusive access to the records, say so.

For withheld documents claimed as privileged, Rule 26(b)(5)(A) requires the withholding party to expressly assert the privilege and describe the materials in enough detail for you to evaluate the claim without exposing the protected content. If you think the assertion is improper, challenge the specific claims in your motion and ask the court to review the disputed documents in camera.⁷

The Discovery Brief (Rule 9C(c))

This is the piece most self-represented filers miss and the one judges rely on most. For every disputed request, the brief must set out three things in order: the exact text of your interrogatory or document request, the opposing party’s response, and your argument for why the response is inadequate. You may place the request-and-response pairs in an appendix, but the argument for each one must appear in the brief itself.⁵

Judges rule request by request. If the objection was relevance, tie the request to a specific claim or defense. If the objection was undue burden, address proportionality.

The Certificate of Good Faith Conference

The certificate must accompany every discovery motion. It states that the Rule 9C conference occurred, with the date, time, and names of participants, or describes your efforts if it did not happen. A motion filed without this certificate will be denied without prejudice.⁵

Affidavits, Exhibits, and a Proposed Order

Rule 9A requires affidavits or exhibits that establish the factual basis. Attach the discovery requests you served, the deficient responses, and correspondence showing your efforts to resolve the dispute. A proposed order is standard practice: draft it as if the judge has already ruled for you, naming exactly what must be produced and setting a compliance deadline.⁶

Filing and Serving the Packet

File everything with the Superior Court where the case is pending. E-filing is available for most civil case types including contract, tort, real property, and business litigation, but it is not mandatory; you can also file at the clerk’s office.⁸

Serve the opposing party with copies of everything you filed. If both sides use the e-filing system, service may happen automatically through the platform.⁹ Otherwise, mail or deliver copies to counsel of record.

What Happens After Filing

The opposing party has 10 days after service to serve an opposition, which can include a memorandum, supporting affidavits, and a cross-motion. You may file a reply of up to 5 pages, but only to address matters raised in the opposition that you could not reasonably have anticipated.⁶

The court may hold a hearing or decide the motion on the papers. Three outcomes are possible: granted in full, denied entirely, or granted in part and denied in part. Partial grants are common, with the court compelling responses to some requests and sustaining objections to others.

Fees Can Shift Either Way

Rule 37(a)(4) gives the court discretion to award reasonable expenses, including attorney’s fees, to the prevailing side on the motion. If your motion is granted, the court may order the opposing party or their attorney to pay your costs unless the opposition was substantially justified or a fee award would be unjust. If your motion is denied, the same rule can send fees the other direction. When the motion is granted in part and denied in part, the court can split costs.¹

If the court orders production and the opposing party still refuses, Rule 37(b) authorizes escalating sanctions and makes a fee award mandatory rather than discretionary, absent substantial justification.¹

Mind the Discovery Cutoff

Each Superior Court case is assigned to a track with built-in deadlines under Standing Order 1-88. Fast-track cases require all discovery requests to be served and non-expert depositions completed within 300 days. Average-track cases get 720 days.¹⁰

A motion to compel can still be filed after the discovery cutoff if the underlying requests were timely served, since responses to timely requests may come in late.¹⁰ Even so, waiting months after learning of a deficient response invites a waiver argument. Serve discovery well before the cutoff, follow up promptly, hold the Rule 9C conference as soon as it is clear the dispute will not resolve, and file while the court still has calendar room to hear the motion.

1
Mass.gov. Civil Procedure Rule 37: Failure to Make Discovery: Sanctions
2
Mass.gov. Civil Procedure Rule 33: Interrogatories to Parties
3
Mass.gov. Civil Procedure Rule 34: Producing Documents, Electronically Stored Information, and Tangible Things
4
Mass.gov. Civil Procedure Rule 36: Requests for Admission
5
Mass.gov. Superior Court Rule 9C: Additional Requirements for Dispositive and Discovery Motions
6
Mass.gov. Superior Court Rule 9A: Civil Motions
7
Mass.gov. Civil Procedure Rule 26: General Provisions Governing Discovery
8
Mass.gov. Learn About eFiling in the Trial Court
9
Mass.gov. Massachusetts Rules of Electronic Filing Rule 4: Electronic Filing Procedures
10
Mass.gov. Superior Court Standing Order 1-88: Time Standards