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Case 1:15-cv-07433-LAP Document 1332-11 Filed 01/08/24 Page 3 of 9 counsel on March 9, 2017, followed up on this by presenting argument on the Motion to Compel that relied almost entirely on the rules-violating reply. Because of the unfairness from plaintiff's chaotic approach to motion practice, we requested on March 9 leave to file a surreply, and the Court granted the request in open court. ARGUMENT I. THE MOTION TO COMPEL SHOULD BE DENIED BECAUSE OF PLAINTIFF’S FAILURE TO COMPLY WITH THE RULES. As discussed in our response (Doc.653) the failure to comply with the rules is an independent ground for denial of a motion to compel. Plaintiff tries in her reply to fix the rules violations, but there are some procedural defaults that cannot be fixed retroactively. One is the requirement of conferral. Compliance with the rule mandating conferral is a precondition for relief under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 37. In her reply plaintiff conspicuously fails to show how she conferred in good faith to resolve the alleged discovery issues before filing the motion. See PIfs Reply 3. She merely repeats what she said in her Rule 37(a)(1) certification—that she “raised” the “issue” of attorney- client waiver at the “recent oral argument.” As we discussed in the response, “raising an issue” in court is not a “conferral in good faith.” The failure to show conferral in good faith necessarily means her counsel’s Rule 37(a)(1) certification was signed in violation of Rule 11(b). We do not mean to stand on some “technical” objection to the motion. For one, Rule 37(a)(1) is not a technical rule; it is a “mandatory prerequisite to the court’s consideration of a motion to compel,” not simply “an empty formality.” Madison v. PALA Interstate, LLC, Civ. No. 13-765-BAJ-RLB, 2014 WL 7004039, at *2 (M.D. La. Dec. 10, 2014); accord, e.g., Berndt v. Snyder, Civ. No. 13-cv-368-SM, 2014 WL 6977848, at *3 (D.N.H. Dec. 9, 2014). For another, a principal purpose of the requirement is to avoid the filing of “unnecessary motions,” Sprint