7/27/2019 Chart Discovery

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Interrogatory Oral Deposition: Request for Admission Physical/ Mental Exam Request for Production

Rule Number 33parties have 30 daysto answer aninterrogatorywrittenquestions answered inwriting; under oath;helpful to get background

info;

Rule 30 and 32Recorded by Ct Reporter;officer of the ct. present,sworn under oath (26g),attorneys can objectno

judge/jury

Rule 36requires you toadmit or deny any

discoverable manner (if

they fail to deny they have

admitted); anything that

you dont expressly deny is

considered admitted (but

the court can overrule this)

Rule 35must have acourt order

Rule 34 - writtenrequest that someonegive you access tosomething (location,electronic info, etc)

From whom isinformationsought?

PARTIES ONLY Any parties that you cansubpoenaParties mustcome; but nonparties are not

required to show up unlessthey are subpoenaed

Only Parties Only a party or someonewithin the partys legalcontrol/custody(ie

partys child or pet; doesnot include employees)

34(c)info can befrom non-parties (butthey should be

subpeana-ed

Limits on number orfrequency ofrequests?

Yes33(a)(1): 25including all subquestions

General rule is one day (for7 hours)Rule 30(d)

No limit

What if responsible

party believes thatdiscovery should not

be provided?

33(a)(4)you can object They can refuse to answer a

question (and potentiallyface sanctions); or object

You can admit, deny, or

object

Who bears cost ofproduction?

The person responding(this is good for the

profounder; not good forthe answer-er)

There are very few costsinvolved

What are the benefitsand the problems with

this form ofdiscovery?

Not expensive for theperson asking the

questionsslightly lessvaluable now that there isdisclosure; constrained toa certain number ofquestionsno follow-upfor poorly askedquestions

It can shorten the trial,and get major issues

resolved

Standard for discovery 26(b)(1)can discover anything relevant to a claim or defense; you can discover things that would not be admissible at trial; it just has tobe reasonably calculated to lead to admissible evidence (ie hearsaythis is how Bill Clinton got screwed, not literally, that was done by Monica)Privilege matter is not discoverable: - confidential information; can be waivedAttorney/client privilege; spousal communications; priest/rabbiWork product26(b)(3)trial preparation materials prepared in anticipation of litigation (does not apply to routine stuff); is protected from discovery; can beoverridden (in part or in full) if you show substantial need and product/materials are not otherwise available, protection of mental opinions, conclusions, opinionsand legal theories is absolute. Not limited to just attorney work product (aka can also be private investigator)