Have you ever been in any of these situations?

Ten days after your client was served with the summons and complaint, the client was personally served with Form Interrogatories, 35 specially prepared interrogatories, 35 requests for admissions and 50 document requests.

Days after an unsuccessful mediation, you are served with 75 requests for admission, 60 special interrogatories, Form Interrogatory #17.1 and 100 requests for documents.  A Declaration of Necessity was served with the discovery.

Eleven days before the close of discovery, opposing counsel hand serves you with a Person Most Knowledgeable/Custodian of Records Deposition Notice with 27 separate categories for testimony and 67 requests for documents.

In each of these situations the discovery propounded was proper according to the Code of Civil Procedure. Continue Reading WHEN YOU GET BOMBARDED WITH DISCOVERY…

Co-Written with Suzanne Martin, Esq.,  Director of National Accounts for Centext Legal Services.

The COVID-19 pandemic has fundamentally changed the way in which depositions are conducted.  Most depositions throughout California are now conducted remotely, on virtual conferencing platforms, rather than in person, which was the modus operandi for so long. This change has brought some major benefits for counsel, witnesses, and the court reporters/videographers who are critical to the proceeding: there is much greater flexibility for all involved, as they are no longer required to travel to and from their offices or homes for each deposition, they do not need to carry their files or equipment to and from the deposition location, and they can now “attend” from anywhere, at any time, with a reliable internet connection.  Running late, stuck in traffic, and transit delays are all avoided.  Here in the Bay Area, that has been an enormous benefit simply in the efficient management of time, avoiding the ever-frustrating Bay Area freeways or less-than-reliable public transportation networks.  Virtual depositions, when counsel and witnesses are prepared and their connections are vetted, promote greater efficiency and result in less time overall to complete the examination.  Depositions tend to start on time, breaks tend to be shorter, distractions are minimized, and the preparation and management of the exhibits is streamlined.

Continue Reading What Lawyers are Getting Wrong in Virtual Depositions

 

Many lawyers use the terms “supplemental expert” and “rebuttal expert” interchangeably, but, according to the Discovery Act, they are very different. A supplemental expert  is one that was disclosed twenty days after experts have been disclosed and is pursuant to Code of Civil Procedure section 2034.280 and is allowed to provide expert testimony. However, a rebuttal expert’s testimony is limited to rebutting or contradicting an opponent’s  expert’s “foundational facts” that form the basis of their opinion. Continue Reading Rebuttal Expert Witnesses—Do you know how to use them?

If a party failed to serve their expert disclosure statement on time, they may bring a motion pursuant to C.C.P §2034.710 for an order to submit a tardy expert witness list.  This section titled Power of Court to Allow Motion to Submit Tardy Expert Witness states:

(a) On motion of any party who has failed to submit expert witness information on the date specified in a demand for that exchange, the court may grant leave to submit that information on a later date.

(b) A motion under subdivision (a) shall be made a sufficient time in advance of the time limit for the completion of discovery under Chapter 8 (commencing with Section  § 2024.010) to permit the deposition of any expert to whom the motion relates to be taken within that time limit. Under exceptional circumstances, the court may permit the motion to be made at a later time.

(c) The motion shall be accompanied by a meet and confer declaration under Section 2016.040.

Continue Reading So, You Forgot to Serve Your Expert Disclosure – Now What?

In Shadow Traffic Network v. Superior Court (1994) 24 Cal.App.4th 1067, the Court of Appeal stated that where counsel retains an expert consultant with confidential information concerning the opponent’s case, there is a rebuttable presumption that the expert shared that confidential information with the counsel that retained him or her, which requires disqualification. See Evid Code §606 on the effect of a presumption. To prevent disqualification, the presumption must be rebutted with an affirmative evidentiary showing that no confidential materials were transmitted. This showing has been met by including the writings that were transmitted and what topics were discussed verbally, which would demonstrate that the offending material was not transmitted. However, be mindful that it is not just the precise materials, but also the benefit of the confidential materials that must be rebutted: Continue Reading The Other Side Retained My Consultant – Should They Be Disqualified?

On July 29, 2021, in the case of Braganza v. Albertson’s LLC, (2021) 67 Cal. App. 5th 144, the Fourth District Appellate District affirmed the trial court’s denial of Plaintiff’s motion to continue the hearing for a Motion for Summary Judgment and thereafter granting the defense’s motion. The key: Plaintiff’s counsel sought the continuance on the ground that she needed additional discovery to oppose the motion but did not demonstrate diligence in timely conducting discovery before seeking the continuance. Continue Reading You Must be Diligent in Discovery to get a MSJ/MSA Continued

Sometimes, when you follow the rules regarding the expert witness demand and the initial expert witness disclosure and declaration and are now in receipt of opposing party’s expert disclosure, you find that the opposing party plans to call experts at trial in a subject area which you assumed wouldn’t require expert testimony, or that you hadn’t anticipated. If you didn’t disclose experts on the subject, you can serve a Supplemental Expert Disclosure within 20 days of the exchange of expert witness disclosure. Continue Reading I didn’t know I needed an expert on that…

If a party has timely served a Demand for Simultaneous Exchange of Expert Trial Witness Information pursuant to Code of Civil Procedure section 2034.210, then “all parties who have appeared in the action shall exchange information concerning expert witnesses in writing on or before the date of exchange specified in the demand.”C.C.P. §2034.260(a). Unless there is a court order specifying otherwise, that date for the simultaneous exchange is 50 days before the initial trial date, or 20 days after service of the demand, whichever is closer to the trial date. C.C.P. §2034.230(b).

Continue Reading 50 Days Before Trial—It’s Expert Disclosure Time

The biggest burden in bringing motions to compel further responses is the preparation of the separate statement of items in dispute pursuant to CRC, Rule 3.1345. In my blogs and at seminars, I have advised parties to prepare their meet and confer letters in the format of a separate statement. See my blog “EXHIBIT A—The Meet and Confer Letter.” As a Discovery Referee I have required parties to exchange Discovery in Word format. I find electronic forms for Discovery, especially in Word, are helpful for two reasons: (1) the parties can meet and confer using the “Track Changes” function in Word and hopefully agree on the modifications to the propounded written Discovery, and (2) parties can easily prepare the separate statement of items in dispute if a motion needs to be filed. This electronic Discovery process takes out the grunt work of having to retype the interrogatories, requests for admissions and requests for documents, as well as their responses when preparing or responding to the separate statement when only a hard copy was served.

Continue Reading In Order to Facilitate the Discovery Process–Serve Your Discovery in Electronic Form

Assume you receive the following response to your Requests for Production of Documents:

Responding party hereby incorporates its general objections as if fully stated herein. Responding party objects to this request to the extent it seeks information protected from disclosure by the attorney-client privilege and/or work product doctrine, or any other applicable privilege. Responding party objects as it invades their and third parties’ right of privacy. Responding party objects that the request fails to specifically describe each individual item sought or reasonably particularize each category of item sought. Responding party objects that it is unduly burdensome and overbroad. Responding party objects to this request as it does not seek relevant documents or documents reasonably calculated to the discovery of admissible evidence.  Responding party objects that plaintiff has equal access to these documents. Responding party objects that the request seeks documents already in plaintiff’s possession custody or control. Notwithstanding said objections, no documents.

In reviewing the response, it is likely you are focusing in on the fact that there are garbage objections to your request and that you weren’t provided a privilege log. However, there is another issue that you should take very seriously—the document response is not in compliance with California Code of Civil Procedure section 2031.230.

Continue Reading Nail Down Whether the Documents You are Seeking ever Existed and Where They are Now