Talk first, by rule · the 26(c) lever · the trial-prep shield
Respond & protect (Arizona)
Arizona wrote the discipline into the rules: the compel motion carries a mandatory good-faith consultation certificate, an evasive answer counts as no answer, and expenses follow the fight. The proportionality lever is the protective order — and the tier caps mean most volume fights are already decided by the budget.
The response discipline — stated honestly
Ariz. R. Civ. P. 37(a)
- Talk first is written into the rule: the compel motion must attach a good-faith consultation certificate complying with Rule 7.1(h).
- An evasive or incomplete disclosure, answer, or response is treated as a FAILURE to disclose, answer, or respond (Rule 37(a)(4)).
- Expenses follow the fight: if the motion is granted — or the discovery arrives only after filing — the court may require payment of the movant's expenses after an opportunity to be heard (Rule 37(a)(5)).
The protective order — the proportionality lever
Ariz. R. Civ. P. 26(c)
- A party — or any person from whom discovery is sought — may move for a protective order in the court where the action is pending (for depositions, alternatively where the deposition will be taken).
- The showing is good cause; the court's menu runs from forbidding the discovery entirely to reshaping its terms, scope, or method.
- The same lever governs both directions: it shields your client, and it polices your own aggression.
Trial preparation — the shield with an unbuyable core
Ariz. R. Civ. P. 26(b)(3)
- Work product and witness statements: documents and tangible things prepared in anticipation of litigation or for trial are ordinarily beyond discovery.
- The expert shield: facts known and opinions held by an expert retained for trial preparation who will NOT testify are ordinarily unreachable.
- Disclosed trial experts are deposable under the rule's own terms — the deposition right keys to the Rule 26.1(a)(6) disclosure.