Order | Filed: August 03, 2026
| Entered: August 03, 2026
Paris v. Experian Information Solutions Inc et al
Other Statutes: Consumer Credit | Texas Northern
Order on Motion to Compel
ELECTRONIC ORDER denying without prejudice Plaintiff Harper Paris's 42 Motion to Compel Discovery Responses and for Sanctions Against Defendant South East Client Services, LLC and Joint Report Pursuant to the Court's Standing Order (Doc. 8)
Paris and Defendant South East Client Services, LLC's counsel need to try again,
And SECS is reminded that filing a request to stay discovery is not the same as getting the Court to grant that request.
As Paris acknowledges, the Court, on May 12, 2025, entered a Standing Order on Discovery and Non-Dispositive Motions that "governs the conduct of discovery and the filing and disposition of all discovery-related motions, pleading disputes, and other non-dispositive motions in this case." Dkt. No. 8 at 1.
That order requires, among other things, "[a]ny contested non-dispositive motion -- that is, any discovery-related motion or other non-dispositive motion that the parties could not resolve by agreement through the pre-motion conference -- that is filed in this case must comply with Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 7(b)'s requirements and must attach as an exhibit a joint report." Dkt. No. 8 at 12. "This joint report must contain," among other things, " the matters that were resolved by agreement"; "the specific matters that need to be heard and determined by the Court"; and "a detailed explanation of why agreement could not be reached as to those matters, including all arguments and authorities on which each party relies as to each matter that could not be resolved by agreement." Dkt. No. 8 at 12-13.
The Court also ordered that "any party moving to compel under Rule 37(a) or moving for a Rule 26(c)(1) protective order or for Rule 37 sanctions must, through the motion and the joint report and joint appendix, 1 attach a copy of the discovery requests at issue (such as Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 34 requests for production or inspection, Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 33 interrogatories, a transcript of deposition testimony, deposition notice, or subpoena) and of the resisting party's responses and objections to those requests; 2 specifically and individually identify each discovery request in dispute and specifically, as to each request, identify the nature and basis of the dispute, including, for example, explaining how a response or answer is deficient or incomplete, and ask the Court for specific relief as to each request; and 3 include a concise discussion of the facts and authority that support the motion as to each discovery request in dispute." Dkt. No. 8 at 13-14.
And "[t]he party filing the motion must coordinate with any party opposing the motion to include the opposing party's arguments and authorities in the joint report and any evidence and affidavits in a joint appendix. And the arguments, authorities, and evidence on which each party relies must be provided to the opposing party before the parties finalize and sign the joint report and joint appendix, to permit each party to evaluate and respond to the other party's or parties' arguments, authorities, and evidence." Dkt. No. 8 at 15.
And the Standing Order on Discovery and Non-Dispositive Motions mandates that "a party may not file a non-dispositive motion unless the party seeking relief first confers by telephone or videoconference (such as over Zoom) or meets face-to-face with the party or parties affected by the dispute, including, where applicable, co-plaintiffs or co-defendants"; that "[a] proper pre-motion conference -- whether conducted in person or by telephone or videoconference -- must include the moving party's personally engag[ing] in two-way communication with the nonresponding party to meaningfully discuss each contested [issue or point of contention or] discovery dispute in a genuine effort to avoid judicial intervention"; and that "the parties must treat the informal negotiation process as a substitute for, and not simply a formalistic prerequisite to, judicial resolution of discovery disputes." Dkt. No. 8 at 3-4 (cleaned up).
But the motion makes clear that the parties collectively did not comply with these requirements.
The Standing Order on Discovery and Non-Dispositive Motions warns that, "[i]f a party filing a motion fails to comply with any part of this order in connection with a non-dispositive motion or if the joint report or agreed order is not timely filed or submitted as required in connection with a non-dispositive motion, the motion will be subject to being denied or stric... (truncated)