§6-5-734. Pleading requirements; stay of discovery.

(a) In any action exempted under subdivision (1) of Section 6-5-733, the complaint initiating the action shall state with particularity for each defendant and cause of action all of the following:

(1) The statute, rule, or other law of the state or of the United States that allegedly creates the cause of action.

(2) Each element of the cause of action and the specific facts alleged to satisfy each element of the cause of action.

(3)a. The exemption under subsection (a) being relied upon and the specific facts that allegedly demonstrate that the violation of the statute, rule, or other law in subdivision (1) proximately caused actual injury to the plaintiff.

b. In any action exempted under subdivision (2) of Section 6-5-733, in addition to the foregoing pleading requirements, the complaint initiating the action shall state with particularity facts sufficient to support a reasonable inference that the violation was with intent to deceive or injure consumers or with the actual knowledge that the violation was injurious to consumers. For purposes of applying this article, the pleading requirements in this subsection are deemed part of the substantive law of the state and not merely in the nature of procedural provisions.

(b)(1) In any action exempted under Section 6-5-733, the obligation of any party or non-party to make disclosures of any kind under any applicable rule or order, or to respond to discovery requests of any kind, as well as all proceedings unrelated to adjudicating a motion to dismiss, shall be stayed prior to the time for filing a motion to dismiss and during the pendency of any such motion unless the court finds upon motion of any party that a response to a particularized discovery request is necessary to preserve evidence or to prevent undue prejudice to that party.

(2) Unless otherwise ordered by the court, during the pendency of any stay of discovery pursuant to this section, the responsibilities of the parties with regard to the treatment of all documents, data compilations, including electronically recorded or stored data, and tangible objects shall be governed by applicable rules of civil procedure. A party aggrieved by the failure of an opposing party to comply with this subdivision shall have the applicable remedies made available by such applicable rules, provided that no remedy shall be afforded that conflicts with the terms of this subdivision.

(Act 2012-556, p. 1636, §5.)