Meet-and-Confer Requirements Across Federal Districts

Federal districts require counsel to confer with opposing counsel before filing certain motions, but they vary on two dimensions: which motions trigger the requirement (the scope), and what format the conference must take (the format). The answers to both questions determine what you do before you file.

Where to find the rule

The general motion-practice rule (typically Rule 7 or 7.1) sets out any meet-and-confer requirement that applies to all motions. The discovery-motion rule (typically Rule 37) sets out the meet-and-confer requirement specific to discovery motions. If the local rule is silent or thin, the assigned judge's standing order may impose additional requirements.

Scope: which motions trigger the requirement

Universal meet-and-confer

Counsel must confer before filing any motion (with narrow exceptions — typically TROs, ex parte motions, and dispositive motions where conferral is impractical).

The procedure:

1. Movant initiates conferral with opposing counsel.
2. Conferral occurs at least 7 days before the motion is filed (or whatever advance window the local rule specifies).
3. Movant includes a certification on the motion stating the conferral occurred and identifying its date.

Districts using this scope: C.D. Cal. (L.R. 7-3).

Discovery-only meet-and-confer

Counsel must confer before filing a discovery motion (motion to compel, motion for protective order, etc.). Non-discovery motions are filed without prior conferral.

The procedure:

1. Movant initiates conferral with opposing counsel about the discovery dispute.
2. Conferral occurs in the format the district specifies.
3. Movant includes a certification on the discovery motion stating the conferral occurred and providing date, time, and place.

Districts using this scope: S.D.N.Y. (Rule 37.2), N.D. Ill. (L.R. 37.2), E.D. Pa. (L.R. 26.1(f)), D.N.J., D. Ariz., N.D. Ga., D.S.C.

Certificate-of-conferral only

Counsel must include a certification of good-faith conferral on the motion itself, but no separate pre-filing process is required. The conferral and the certification happen together.

The procedure:

1. Counsel confer with opposing counsel by any reasonable means.
2. Movant includes the conferral certification on the motion.

Districts using this scope: S.D. Fla. (L.R. 7.1(a)(3)), S.D. Tex. (L.R. 7.1).

Format: how the conferral must occur

Live conferral required

Phone, video, or in-person conferral is mandatory. Email alone is insufficient.

Districts using this format: C.D. Cal. (L.R. 7-3 general; L.R. 37-1 stricter for discovery — same county requires in-person at movant's counsel's office), N.D. Ill. (L.R. 37.2 — discovery), D.N.J., D. Ariz., N.D. Ga., D.S.C.

Email permitted

Conferral may occur 'orally or in writing' — email expressly satisfies the rule.

Districts using this format: S.D. Fla. (L.R. 7.1(a)(3)).

Format unspecified

Local rules require conferral but do not prescribe the format. Practice is governed by the assigned judge's standing order or by reasonable practice.

Districts using this format: S.D. Tex., S.D.N.Y., E.D. Pa.

What this rule is trying to accomplish

Meet-and-confer requirements exist because federal judges face heavy dockets and the court's working assumption is that most routine discovery disputes — and many non-discovery disputes — can be resolved between counsel without judicial intervention. The requirement is the court's filter: counsel are asked to narrow the dispute so that the court sees only what counsel could not resolve themselves.

The conferral certification is the document the judge reads first when a discovery motion arrives. It is the court's window into what happened before the motion was filed. Two ways of running a meet-and-confer produce very different certifications:

• A brief conference where neither side moves position produces a certification that the parties met and disagreed. Nothing else is recorded.
• A substantive conference that addresses each disputed item produces a certification that records what was discussed, what was resolved, what each side conceded, and what genuinely remains in dispute.

The rule does not specify which kind of conference to hold — it requires only that one occurs. The practical effect is that counsel who treat the conferral substantively tend to produce motions the judge reads as well-founded — the residual dispute is the only thing the court is asked to decide. Counsel who treat the conferral procedurally tend to produce motions the judge reads as something the parties could have resolved themselves. The certification is the record of which approach counsel took, and it is what the judge reads first.

This logic applies whether the district has a universal meet-and-confer scope, a discovery-only scope, or a certificate-only scope. The compliance threshold is the same in each case: the conferral certification should describe a real conversation about a real dispute, with concessions and narrowing where appropriate, and a residual dispute that genuinely required the court's attention.

Making your record when the other side is not engaging

The compliance dynamic above assumes both sides engage in good faith. The harder case is the asymmetric one: counsel arrives at the conferral substantively prepared, ready to narrow the dispute; opposing counsel sits silent, interrupts, or takes positions on every issue regardless of merit. The rule does not resolve this directly. What it provides is a record-making mechanism that surfaces the asymmetry to the court.

The meet-and-confer letter — counsel's substantive position laid out in writing — is the operational tool. The letter documents:

• The specific items in dispute, with the legal or factual basis for each.
• Counsel's proposed compromises or narrowing of the request, where applicable.
• The remaining asks after the conferral, and the basis for them.

Sent to opposing counsel before the conferral, the letter establishes counsel's substantive starting position. Attached to the eventual motion, the letter gives the court a one-document view of how counsel approached the dispute. Some districts require the letter; many permit it; in any district where conferral is required, counsel can use the letter to document their substantive engagement.

A judge reading a record in which one side has produced substantive items and the other has produced nothing — or only objections without substantive engagement — can see the asymmetry. The rule does not prescribe what the court should do with that observation. The rule does ensure the asymmetry is visible.

Counsel cannot make opposing counsel act in good faith. Counsel can only make their own approach a matter of record — and the rule's compliance mechanism, used substantively, ensures the record is what the court reads first.

Quick-reference table

Operational note: conferral certificates

In every district that requires meet-and-confer, the certification of conferral on the motion is the document the court reads. It typically must state (a) that conferral occurred, (b) when it occurred, and (c) the substance of the dispute or the fact that the parties could not reach agreement. Some districts require the time and place of the conference; some require the names of counsel who participated. Read the local rule before drafting the certification — the level of detail required is itself a district variation.