1. A. Before filing any motion to compel discovery, the moving party or attorney shall confer in person or by telephone with the opposing party or counsel for the purpose of amicably resolving the discovery dispute. The moving party or attorney shall attempt to arrange a suitable conference date with the opposing party or counsel and confirm the date by written notice sent at least five days before the conference date, unless an earlier date is agreed upon or good cause exists for a shorter time period. If by telephone, the conference shall be initiated by the person seeking the discovery responses.

2. B. No counsel for a party shall file, nor shall any clerk set for hearing, any motion to compel discovery unless accompanied by a signed and dated “Certificate of Conference''.

   1. 1. If a discovery conference is held the Certificate of Conference shall state: The parties or counsel personally conducted a conference on [insert date]. At this conference, there was a substantive discussion of every item presented to the court in this motion and, despite their best efforts, the parties or counsel were unable to resolve the matters presented.
   2. 2. If a discovery conference is not held the Certificate of Conference shall state: The moving party or counsel has personally attempted to contact the respondent or counsel to arrange a conference to resolve the matters presented in this motion as follows: [Insert dates, times, methods of contact, and results here.] Respondent or counsel has failed to respond or failed to confer in good faith in an attempt to resolve the matters presented.
3. C. If the court finds that the parties or counsel have failed to confer in good faith, or have willfully failed to confer, the court may impose, at its discretion, sanctions on the non-conferring party, including attorney fees and costs.

Authority Note

AUTHORITY NOTE: Promulgated in accordance with R.S. 23:1310.1.

Historical Note

HISTORICAL NOTE: Promulgated by the Department of Labor, Office of Workers' Compensation Administration, LR 25:275 (February 1999), amended LR 25:1867 (October 1999), LR 33:657 (April 2007), amended by Louisiana Works, Office of Workers’ Compensation Administration, LR 51:1627 (October 2025).