*1 The Court previously approved Special Master David H. Marion's Amended Fourth Report and Recommendation (“R&R”), and ordered Plaintiff Commonwealth of Pennsylvania to inform Defendants of its theories of recovery and the nature of any remedies it will seek at trial; identify the nature and source of all known documents and data it will rely upon to prove damages and other remedies; and produce all discoverable documents and data within its possession, custody, or control.[1] Defendants have filed a motion to enforce the Order, seeking to compel Pennsylvania to 1) search for and produce all non-privileged material responsive to Defendants' Requests for Production of Documents; 2) inform Defendants of the Pennsylvania proposal for electronic search so that the parties can reach agreement; and 3) pay reasonable counsel fees.

Pennsylvania argues that it has complied with the Order by informing Defendants of its theories of recovery;[2] identified the nature and source of all known documents and data it will rely upon, and produced all discoverable documents and data within its possession, custody, or control. Pennsylvania further contends that the Requests for Production of Documents were not the subject of the prior dispute that led to the R&R and the Court's Order. Upon review of the parties' briefing, the Court will grant the motion in part. The Court acknowledges Pennsylvania's position that the R&R focused on certain categories of discovery. Nonetheless, the Order directed Pennsylvania to “produce all discoverable documents and data within its possession, custody, or control.”[3] Moreover, as with any party, Pennsylvania is required to fully respond to discovery requests subject to good-faith negotiations among the parties or the filing of a motion for a protective order. The Court will not parse the precise contours of the previous dispute and instead directs the parties to move forward with discovery with all reasonable dispatch.

AND NOW this 8th day of February 2023, upon consideration of Defendants' Motion to Enforce this Court's Order Compelling the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania to Produce Discovery [MDL Doc. No. 2112] and the opposition thereto, it is hereby ORDERED that the Motion is GRANTED in part to the extent that Pennsylvania shall respond to all discovery requests as required by the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure. The request for counsel fees is DENIED without prejudice.

It is so ORDERED.

BY THE COURT: