MBE Rules · Civil Procedure
Discovery scope — relevance & proportionality
FRCP 26(b)(1)
The rule
Parties may obtain discovery regarding any non-privileged matter relevant to any party's claim or defense AND proportional to the needs of the case (importance, amount, parties' resources, importance to issues, benefit vs. burden).
In plain English
In a lawsuit, you can ask for information that matters to the case and is reasonable to get, considering how important it is and how much effort it takes to find it.
Worked example
In a car accident case, the defendant requests the plaintiff's medical records for the past year. It's relevant to the injury claim and not overly burdensome, so it's allowed in discovery.
Memory hook
Discovery: Relevance + Proportionality. Only non-privileged, relevant info that's proportionate to case needs.
The trap
Students think: Any relevant info is discoverable. Wrong, because it's also about proportionality. The actual test is relevance AND proportionality.
How examiners test it
The MBE loves: broad discovery request on minor issue. Trap: students overlook proportionality, focusing only on relevance. Remember both criteria.
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