ORDER ON MOTIONS

Re: Dkt. Nos. 57, 59

JAMES DONATO, District Judge.

Plaintiff, a state prisoner, proceeds with a pro se civil rights complaint under 42 U.S.C. § 1983. Plaintiff has filed a motion for a hearing regarding a defendant's alleged perjury in admissions and interrogatories. Plaintiff did not confer with defendants' counsel about the allegations, and has not explained the relief he seeks or why is he entitled to Court intervention. The motion for a hearing is denied.

Plaintiff has also filed a motion with the Court about discovery requests. Plaintiff is advised that the Court becomes involved in discovery when there is a dispute between the parties. Discovery requests and responses normally are exchanged between the parties without a copy sent to the court. See Fed. R. Civ. P. 5(d) (listing discovery requests and responses that "must not" be filed with the court until they are used in the proceeding or the court orders otherwise). Only when the parties have a discovery dispute that they cannot resolve among themselves will the court intervene in the discovery process. To promote the goal of addressing only atypical disagreements (rather than becoming an overseer of all discovery), the Court requires that the parties meet and confer to try to resolve their disagreements before seeking court intervention. See Fed. R. Civ. P. 37(a); N.D. Cal. Local Rule 37. Where, as here, one of the parties is a prisoner, the Court does not require in-person meetings and instead allows the prisoner and defense counsel to meet and confer by telephone or exchange of letters. Although the format of the meet-and-confer process changes, the substance of the rule remains the same: the parties must engage in a good faith effort to meet and confer before seeking court intervention in any discovery dispute.

CONCLUSION

1. Plaintiff's motion for a hearing (Docket No. 57) and motion for discovery (Docket No. 59) are DENIED.

2. Plaintiff has returned three document subpoenas for the Court to serve. The Clerk shall sign the appropriate portions and provide the subpoenas to the United States Marshal who shall serve, without prepayment of fees, the subpoenas on the defendant listed on each subpoena.

IT IS SO ORDERED.