Re: partial discovery -- what happens to motions?

"student" <ht97@xxxxxxxxxxx> slightly rephrased and repetitively
reasked:

I filed for motion to compel for discovery. I finally received the
documents requested but they are not complete. I do not care
about most of the missing documents but there are few particular
ones very important to making my side of the case.

Did opposing counsel say that he had furnished all the documents in
plaintiff's and in his custody/possession/control that responded to
your interrogatories and document production demand?

If so, other than not fact based suspicion that he and his client are
mistaken or possibly even lying in this respect, what would make you
think either has whatever are what you contend to be the not supplied
documents in question?

Did opposing counsel in his response to your discovery demands confirm
the existence of what might be the documents to which you refer but
claim that he and plaintiff were withholding them for some stated
reason (e.g., because they are privileged or are not discoverable
because constitute attorney work product, etc.)?

If so, for what reasons other than that you don't believe or don't
care about such objections are you entitled to those documents?

Can I ask for a second set of production where I ask for
these specific documents?

You already know that you have a right to a reasonably substantive
response to your document production requests, if they were themselves
reasonably drafted including by being sufficiently specific, and to
your interrogatories, if a question called for the identification or
production of a document, although it is possible that, if justified,
a response might be that the material demanded is not discoverable for
some stated reason.

If you have a basis other than perverse speculation that opposing
counsel or his client have not answered relevant if also well
formulated interrogatories in a reasonably responsive manner or
withheld documents that would respond to a well drafted document
production demand but without good reason, one option is to serve and
submit a supplemental affidavit in support of your pending motions
stating such facts (assuming you can also truthfully state that you
have attempted in good faith and in timely fashion to confer with
opposing counsel to try to resolve whatever may be the disputes about
these issues or, if you have not, supplying a good reason why not).

Of course, you also have yet to address whether you are well-advised
to persist in your demands because, while it is possible that you are,
it may also be that plaintiff's failure to furnish responsive
documents that really are very important to making your side of the
case may provide a basis for sustaining an objection to the use of
such documents at trial, if plaintiff later so attempts and, if it
really is true that they are very important, a correlative might be
that plaintiff may not be able to meet plaintiff's burden of proof.

While no one can intelligently analyze this issue with respect to you,
in particular, because you have been persistently vague in your
numerous otherwise repetitive newsgroup postings about the facts in
this respect, it may be that trying to compel plaintiff to produce
whatever are the documents in question will assist plaintiff in
preparing a case plaintiff might not otherwise prepare - a possibility
of which you are aware but seem not to want to think carefully about.

Also since we are supposed to be now going through formal mediation
through the court appointed mediator -- could I still ask for more
documents while we are waiting for the mediator to settle on a date?

You have asked this question numerous times even though you already
know (a) that you can ask for anything you want to ask for and (b)
that an actually intelligent and experienced mediator is likely to
want each of the parties to provide information that would help
identify and if practicable resolve the core disputed issues in the
case and yet that (c) the very fact that it was you who asked for
mediation might be a basis to defer discovery (although in this
connection, too, you keep repeating the same question but without ever
reporting enough of the facts about the nature of the case and the
respective parties' contentions to make required analysis possible).

Also, since I filed a motion to compel and we have a hearing date set
-- do I need to notify the court and cancel the hearing?

You have asked this question several times before, too, although that
you again do so in light of what you first say above is perhaps
especially puzzling because you do not answer this question which,
however, is one you, yourself have posed and ought be able to answer
for yourself even if you were not, as you've insisted ever so
modestly, a very intelligent and sophisticated Ph.D student:

If your discovery demands are coherently and relevantly drafted, as
you've indicated you believe a court would rule is so, and if there
really is a basis beyond empty speculation to believe that plaintiff
has not complied responsively with your discovery demands because
plaintiff or its attorney withheld discoverable material that really
is very important to your making your side of the case, why would you
want to cancel the hearing on your motion?

Thanks!

.