“The primary purpose of the discovery rules is to facilitate the disclosure prior to trial of any unprivileged information that is relevant and material to the lawsuit so as to permit the narrowing and sharpening of the basic issues and facts that will require trial." (See Friday Invs., LLC v. Bally Total Fitness of the Mid-Atlantic, Inc. (2017) 370 N.C. 235, 237-38.)
“General provisions governing discovery are set forth in Rule 26 of the North Carolina Rules of Civil Procedure.” (See Sable v. Sable (2006) 177 N.C. App. 811.)
“Discovery methods include, inter alia, depositions, interrogatories, and production of or permission to inspect documents.” (See id.)
“Regarding the scope and limits of discovery, our Legislature has provided, in pertinent part, as follows: parties may obtain discovery regarding any matter, not privileged, which is relevant to the subject matter involved in the pending action . . .” (See id.)
“It is not ground for objection that the information sought will be inadmissible at the trial if the information sought appears reasonably calculated to lead to the discovery of admissible evidence.” (See Willis v. Power Co. (1976) 291 N.C. 19, 33.)
“It is the expectation of the Court that all discovery in these cases will be conducted in a manner that is in keeping with both the letter and spirit of the Rules of Civil Procedure relating to discovery and the provisions of this Order.” (See In re Pedestrian Walkway Failure (2005) 618 S.E.2d 819, 821.)
“It is the Court's expectation that all discovery responses will contain full and complete answers and responses, and will be provided in a timely fashion.” (See id.)
“It is also the Court's expectation that counsel for all parties will cooperate with one another regarding the scheduling of depositions and other matters relating to discovery in a manner so that the necessary discovery in this matter can be conducted in a productive manner with minimal involvement by the Court.” (See id.)
“Counsel for the parties shall first engage in good faith attempts to resolve any and all disputes and objections regarding discovery before seeking the ... judge's assistance.” (See id.)
“Motions to compel shall specifically describe the discovery requests at issue.” (See id.)
“When an opposing party fails to respond to discovery requests, the discovering party may apply for an order compelling discovery, pursuant to the guidelines and procedures outlined in Rule 37.” (See Estate of Johnson v. Johnsonów (2016) 796 S.E.2d 799.)
“Whether or not the party's motion to compel discovery should be granted or denied is within the trial court's sound discretion and will not be reversed absent an abuse of discretion.” (See Sable v. Sable (2006) 177 N.C. App. 811.)
“An abuse of discretion occurs only when a court makes a patently arbitrary decision, manifestly unsupported by reason.” (See James v. Bledsoe (2012) 727 S.E.2d 25.)
It is well settled that “under North Carolina discovery rules, subject only to limitation by court order, any party to a civil action is entitled to all information relevant to the subject matter of that action unless such information is privileged.” (See Board of Drainage Comm. v. Dixon (2003) 158 N.C. App. 509, 511.)
It is also well settled that “Rule 37 grants the trial judge discretion to impose sanctions upon a party for failure to comply with discovery processes.” (See Gardner v. Harriss (1996) 122 N.C. App. 697, 699.)
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