inspection of documents

In civil procedure, inspection of documents refers to a party’s legal right to examine the opposing party’s documents that are relevant to the issues in a lawsuit during the pretrial discovery process. 

Under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 34, a party may serve a request to inspect, copy, test, or sample any designated documents, electronically stored information (ESI), or tangible items – such as writings, drawings, graphs, charts, photographs, and data compilations – in possession, custody, or control of another party. The request must describe each item or category of items with reasonable particularity and specify a reasonable time, place, and manner for inspection. The scope of such inspection requests is governed by Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 26(b), which limits discovery to nonprivileged matter that is relevant to any party’s claim or defense and proportional to the needs of the case.

If a party fails to respond or refuses to permit inspection, the requesting party may move to compel discovery under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 37(a). Conversely, the responding party may object to specific requests or move for a protective order under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 26(c) to prevent undue burden, expense, embarrassment, or oppression.

[Last reviewed in October of 2025 by the Wex Definitions Team]

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