Federal Rules of Civil Procedure

• The FRCP govern the civil procedure of civil suits held in the United States federal district courts. States create their own rules of civil procedure that apply in civil cases held in state courts. However, most states have adopted rules that mimic or are similar to the FRCP.
  
  

Chapters

• The scope of the FRCP is divided into eight chapters: Commencement of Suits, Pleadings and Motions, Parties, Discovery, Trial, Judgment, Provisional and Final Remedies and Special Proceedings. Rule 35, including subsection F, falls into the chapter on Discovery.
  
  

Discovery

• Discovery is the process where parties seek and exchange information from each other and third parties before trial. This is based on the notion that there should be no surprises at trial and that both parties should be aware of all of the evidence including names of witnesses, experts, theories to be used and hard evidence to be presented at trial. This information must be obtained formally through legal tools set out in the FRCP, some of which are governed by FRCP Rule 35F. These tools include requests for admissions, document requests, interrogatories and depositions.
  
  

Rule 35F

• FCRP Rule 35F governs motions for orders compelling disclosures or discovery. It also covers sanctions which may be applied for failure to comply with court orders, failure to disclose, failure to participate in discovery, failure to provide electronically stored information or for failure to participate in setting forth the discovery plan.
  
  

Sanctions

• Any party who interferes or fails to comply with the discovery process is subject to sanctions, a court-issued monetary fine levied on the non-complying party or his attorney.