Discovery Guide

The Discovery Guide is a helpful reference to help you manage expectations regarding documents the other Party might request.  FINRA provides the Discovery Guide for customer cases only.  This Guide outlines the documents that Parties should exchange without Arbitrator or staff intervention.

The Discovery Guide contains two Document Production Lists of presumptively discoverable documents:

  • one for the firm/associate persons to produce and
  • one for the customer to produce.

The Document Production Lists in the Discovery Guide apply to simplified arbitrations in which a customer requests a regular hearing. 

In cases filed before March 3, 2025, the Document Production Lists in the Discovery Guide do not apply to simplified arbitrations decided on the papers or by special proceeding. However, in cases filed on or after March 3, 2025, the Document Production Lists in the Discovery Guide will apply to simplified arbitrations decided on the papers or by special proceeding if timely requested by the customer. Customer claimants must make the request when filing their Statement of Claim. Customer respondents must make the request no later than their answer due date, regardless of any party agreement to extend an answer due date. 

See Simplified Arbitrations for more information.

Current Discovery Guide

Previous Discovery Guides