What governs the scope of discovery under the Federal Rules, and what principles limit discovery?

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The key idea is that the scope and limits of discovery are set by Rule 26. Discovery can reach nonprivileged information that’s relevant to any party’s claim or defense, but it must be proportional to the needs of the case. That proportionality means the court weighs factors like the importance of the issues, the amount in controversy, the parties’ resources, and whether the likely benefit of the discovery outweighs the burdens and costs. Beyond relevance and proportionality, discovery is limited by privileges and protective orders—materials protected by attorney‑client privilege or the work product doctrine, and information shielded by a protective order, aren’t discoverable. In practice, this means discovery is broad but not endless: it must be relevant, reasonably balanced against burdens, and satisfy privilege and protective‑order protections. Other rules cover specific discovery tools (for example, documents in Rule 34, interrogatories in Rule 33, subpoenas in Rule 45) rather than the overall governing framework for scope and limits.