Depositions

During the discovery phase of a court case, there are a variety of means available for getting information from the other side. As covered previously, these include written questions, requests for documents or to inspect things or places, and requests for admissions. In addition to those discovery tools, a party may also take depositions of other parties or third party witnesses.

Depositions are a very important discovery device. They provide an opportunity for questioning a witness live and in person. The examination is under oath. This means it has the same force and effect as if it were happening in court. There is a court reporter present to take down and make a formal record of the proceedings.

A deposition operates on many levels at once. First it is a way to get information, i.e. to get the witness’s story.  Follow up questions can be asked. The attorney defending the deposition is limited in their ability to coach the witness. The witness is then pinned down as to what they have to say on the covered topics. If they testify differently later, that difference may be brought out into the open, showing that the witness has a poor memory or is lying.

At the same time the witness can be evaluated for credibility. How solid is their memory? How good was their opportunity to observe in whatever took place. Do they look honest? Some witnesses just do not present very well. And that has an impact on credibility. Or perhaps the witness is credible and sympathetic. That is important information to have when evaluating the case.

Depositions are also the means for obtaining testimony and/or documents from third parties.

There are time limits on how long a deposition may last. Generally a person is only subject to one complete deposition. So it is important to prepare well and take a comprehensive deposition. There may not be another chance. Similarly, if your side is giving a deposition it is important to meet with counsel and prepare for it. This is not something to be done “cold”.

Depositions are an important part of the discovery process. It allows a different way of getting information from other parties or witnesses. It will be less filtered than the information obtained in writing from opposing counsel. And having this first hand interaction with witnesses is very important for evaluating the case. 

Requests for Admissions

Another discovery tool available to the parties in a court case is requests for admissions.  These can be devastating on their own.  And they can be combined with questions and requests for production to leverage their power even further.

Requests for admissions are unusual.  Most other discovery requests are designed to get information.  A question may ask for witness names and contact information.  A question may ask when something happened or for information about damages the other side is claiming.  A request for production may seek copies of agreements or correspondence.

Unlike those, a request for admission asks the other side to admit or deny a factual proposition such as whether something even happened.  A request for admission may also apply law to facts, getting at whether or not something is even legally significant.  So a party could ask the opponent to admit they have no damages to claim or that a claim is legally stale.

If there is an admission then that issue is treated as a settled matter by the court.  It is a done deal, at least for that item.

Clearly having the other side admit that you have a great case, significant damages, and they have no defenses would certainly help your side.  And requests for admissions can do that.

Of course the responding party will do everything they can to avoid giving a damaging admission.  And this is where the leverage comes in from combining requests for admissions with requests for production.  There is an authorized form interrogatory in California used in combination with requests for admissions.  In that interrogatory the answering party is required to identify each admission denied, state all facts supporting the denial, identify witnesses with knowledge, and identify documents supporting the denial.  The request for production can seek the documents identified in the interrogatory answer.

So the responding party is faced with the prospect of admitting various things or justifying the denials with facts, witnesses and documents.  Talk about a way of getting information about a case.

The common way to avoid all this is to object to the request.  Perhaps commensurate with their power, requests for admissions are difficult to prepare such that they avoid objections.  The requests for admissions must be single propositions.  They must be very simple and clear.  It is common to see sloppy drafting where people pack a couple of questions into each request.  Or they can be vague or ambiguous.  Such problems can be fatal to the question.  Given the power of the requests they have to be very well drawn or they will not work.

If there is a dispute about the validity of a request or appropriateness of an objection, the parties can go to court to have a judge rule on the issue.  That takes time and costs money.  The losing party may have to pay some or all the expenses for the fight.  So, pick your battles.

Discovery Process Inspection Request

Part of the lawsuit process is obtaining information to support your claims, undermine the other side’s claims or evaluate the strengths and weaknesses on each side. As part of formal discovery each side may request to inspect documents and things from the other side. This can be paper files, electronic records, inspection and copying of computer systems, other physical evidence such as personal property, and even land.

Similar to interrogatories (written questions seeking information) inspection requests are typically prepared by the asking side’s attorney and responded to by the other side’s attorney. As with the questions, the answers are sworn to under penalty of perjury. So trouble may ensue for evasion.

The responses may come back with objections. The party may agree to comply with the request. The responding party may not be able to comply with the request because the documents never existed or were destroyed in come conveniently timed fire. Even though you may be disappointed not to get the information, it is important to run down what is available, what is not available, and why it is not available. Of course the destruction of evidence, especially under questionable circumstances, may damage or destroy credibility or a case.

As with interrogatories, if the asking party is not satisfied with the responses they received they may ask the court for help with getting the information or getting the responding party to comply with their obligations. This starts with an informal effort at working it out called the meet and confer process. This unfolds much like a negotiation where the attorneys go back and forth about requirements for the requests, the merits of the objections, and the standards for responding to requests. Some things may be clarified or worked out. For the remaining, the requesting party can ask the court for help. This is in the form of a discovery motion.

Discovery motions can be time consuming to prepare and to respond to. In ruling on the motion the court commonly imposes a financial consequence on the losing party and/or their attorneys for being wrong. This is called monetary sanctions. They are based on the expense to prepare the motion. How much is awarded very much depends on the judge, what was involved, how close the call was, and the apparent good faith of those involved.

So between the time and money involved in preparing or responding to a discovery motion and the exposure for the other side’s expenses, discovery disputes can become expensive.

However the stakes are also high as the information can make or break a case.

Discovery Informal And One Formal Discovery Device

Soon after the lawsuit papers are served the parties can engage in discovery. This phase of the litigation process lasts until basically thirty days before trial. The point of it is to develop and obtain evidence to support your claims and see what the others side has to support their claims. This is important so that you can win your case and evaluate your chances at success. And you need to evaluate the chances of success for the other side. This information can lead to a resolution of the case.

Before even filing a case, however, it is important to do informal investigation of the case. Your own files and records may have important documents to support your case and evaluate what issues the other side may try to raise. Go through your files. Pull together the contracts, agreements, and other supporting documents. Get the email and other communications together. The correspondence trail may be full of admission, for both sides. There may be smoking guns anywhere. This information must be gathered and preserved.

Witnesses can be identified and located. Investigators can obtain statements to preserve testimony and avoid later surprises. Maybe people on the other side will speak more freely before the court process begins.

Once the case begins the discovery process is more formal. There are various tools used to pursue formal discovery. These consist of written questions, requests for documents or to inspect places or things, requests for admissions that the other side admit or deny various propositions, live questioning of witnesses under oath with a formal record (depositions), and securing documents or testimony of or from third party witnesses. Closer to trial there is a process for exchanging information on experts who may testify to support each side.

Let’s look at the first on the list: interrogatories.

These are typically written by the lawyer for the asking party and answered by the lawyer on the other side. However the party answering the questions has to swear to the truth of the answers. So whatever information you get out of them can be used against them in court as an admission. It can also be used against them to attack their credibility if they change their story.

As you might imagine the side answering the questions will try to object to questions and provide as little information as possible, at least with respect to things they would prefer not to discuss. For the self-serving subjects, expect longer answers.

Once the questions are answered the asking party can press for better answers or try to overcome objections. This is first done informally through a meet-and-confer process. Basically it is a negotiation between the attorneys regarding what the rules and obligations are and how the standards were not met or the questions were hopelessly confusing or otherwise defective. The meet and confer process can lead to better and more information. It can narrow the issues where some common understanding is met. And for those areas where the parties cannot work it out the parties can tell it to the judge for a decision. There can be a financial penalty for being wrong. Typically the losing side has to pay the expenses of the winning side for the motion to bring the matter to the court’s attention. This could be anywhere from hundreds to thousands of dollars, depending on what is involved. And the court can review the request for attorney’s fees and reduce it if they feel it is excessive. If there is a close question and/or abundant good faith a court may not impose sanctions. Much depends on the judge hearing the discovery dispute. Typically some sanctions are imposed.

And, of course, pursuing a discovery motion can take a lot of time because of what must be prepared to properly present it to the court.

But without information you may not be able to prove your case. So this can be a mission critical process.

Discovery in Civil Litigation

Discovery is a process used in a court case. It is very important because, without it, you may not be able to develop the admissible evidence you need to prove your case. It is also important because you can use the discovery process find out about the other side’s case.

The opportunity to do discovery lasts from (usually) soon after the lawsuit is filed until about a month or so before trial. There are many qualifications regarding dates here because there are exceptions, special circumstances and different procedures are subject to different time frames.

In California civil procedure there are a variety of tools that can be used for getting information through discovery. These include writ questions (interrogatories), requests for documents for other things including inspection of premises, requests that specify matters admitted (requests for admissions), and questioning witnesses under oath (depositions). Documents and/or testimony can be obtained from third parties through subpoenas. Some cases require expert testimony. In the closing days of the case parties can demand information regarding experts to be used by the other side, and those experts can be questioned.

Discovery is a two-way street. Just as you can demand information from the other side, looking for a smoking gun to your case, the other side has the right to demand information from you.

Since the discovery phase the case lasts for most of the life the case prior to trial, discovery can become expensive and time-consuming. However, it is very important because it can make or break your case. Also information developed through discovery can help resolve the case without resort to the time and expense of going to trial. Or if the case does not resolve you will have the formation you need to prove your case, and you will know what to expect from the other side.

Forewarned is forearmed.

Freezing Assets

If you have a breach of contract claim you may be eligible for an order freezing the other side’s assets until the case is over.  This does not come up in every contract case.  Some cases simply are not eligible for it.  For example, it needs to be a commercial claim.  So a credit card company will not be taking this action against a consumer.  (They used to be able to do this.)  Also the claim needs to be large enough to qualify – both as a matter of what the law provides for and also from a cost/benefit standpoint.  While it can be very important to tie up assets at an early stage of a case so you have a better chance at collecting, seeking this kind of order is a lot of work.  And you can understand why.  A judge is going to want to be pretty confident that you are going to win before making this kind of an order.  So you need a strong case. And it needs to be clearly presented so a judge can rule in your favor.

The more formal term for this process is “attachment”.  There are specific forms which must be correctly completed to apply for this kind of an order.  In addition to the mandated forms the party seeking an attachment must present legal authorities supporting the request as well as admissible evidence in support of the claim.  This will include declarations from eye witnesses as well as properly authenticated business records. 

An attachment can be requested on little or no notice.  This is called an ex parte application.  If there is an emergency, such as a sale of a business or evidence of assets being dissipated, then you might be able to get an order on a day’s notice or even in secret.  This is a very drastic request so you need a compelling situation to justify it.  If your showing falls short you may still be eligible for a temporary protective order to maintain the status quo until the application can be heard on regular notice.  That will be closer to a month.  Technically it is sixteen court days plus time for service.    

Another requirement for an attachment is that if it is allowed, you must post a bond in order to get papers issued to actually do something with the attachment.  Typically the bond is $10,000.  The premium for that will be a few hundred dollars per year.  It is important to know that a bond is not quite like an insurance policy.  If you lose the case then the other side can make a claim for damages for what will be seen as a wrongful attachment.  If the bonding company pays then they will want to be repaid.  So bonding companies will need some financial information and may run a credit report on you.  To avoid a lot of work for nothing I usually have my clients apply for the bond first to be sure they qualify.  Unfortunately I have seen people turned down. While that was unfortunate it was better to learn that early rather than after going to all the work.

Once an attachment is allowed you may tie up assets.  What exact form that will take will depend on what the asset is.  This does not mean that you get the money while the case is pending.  Instead the idea is that money, assets or other property are taken by the sheriff or otherwise subject to a lien such that they will not disappear while the case is pending.

An attachment is a powerful remedy.  It can make a dramatic difference in a case and improve your chances for collecting.  So instead of being frozen out by a breaching counter-party, see if you can freeze some assets instead.

What Responses Can the Defendant Make To the Lawsuit?

After the defendant has been sued and served, they have some time to respond to the case.  Commonly that time is about thirty days. If they do not respond then you can seek a default, locking them out of court and follow up with a default judgment. 

 

If the defendant wants to be heard and fight the case, they have several options.

A defendant can answer the complaint. Typically this takes the form of a denial of the allegations. In addition the defendant can raise various new matters. These are called affirmative defenses.  It is sort of like saying, “the plaintiff is wrong; even if he is not wrong, I still do not owe him because of this other thing.”  And those other things can take many shapes and forms, depending on what the case is about.

A defendant may challenge the legal sufficiency of the complaint. This is an attack on the complaint itself. Commonly the notion is, “even if everything you say is true, you do not have a claim against me.”  In a more lawyerly way of phrasing, the plaintiff fails to state facts sufficient to constitute a cause of action.  So, for example, the court papers may show on their face that the case is too old.  Or maybe it is some new theory of liability which is not well established. Or maybe the plaintiff’s court papers are gibberish.  It happens.

A defendant might file an attack on jurisdiction. So, without getting into the right or wrong of anything, the defendant wants to fight about where to fight. This can make a big difference with respect to convenience, home town advantage, what law to apply, etc.  

A defendant might respond by attacking the serve. Was the defendant served or served properly?  This is an unusual move to make. Sometimes it is appropriate. But a defective serve can often be corrected by re-serving the papers. This will be far cheaper than filing the motion to attack the serve. So this kind of battle can be expensive and little advantage is obtained through it.

If you need to sue someone or have been sued, you should hire a competent attorney to handle the case appropriately.