In the world of civil litigation there is a nightmare that exists. It's something that must be done but everyone dreads when it is their turn. There are strict rules in the California Code of Civil Procedure that regulate this nightmare. There are strict deadlines. And there are severe punishments for violating these rules. Oh the world of: Discovery. Such an innocuous term for something so evil.
Discovery would be easy if you didn't have to involve the clients. But you do. Requests for Admissions: Admit that you do not have a leg to stand on... Special Interrogatories: State all the facts that support your allegations in paragraph 5 of your complaint. And my favorite...Production of Documents. This is the one where you harp on your client every couple of days to find every shred of paper that has been requested. If you're lucky, you have a helpful client. In reality, it's usually begging them, then it comes down to the wire. And then it comes to asking for an extension because in California you have 30 days to complete this.
Our discovery was due to be sent back in just a few days and we did not want to leave it to the last minute. As it was, the responses had four people in the office working on them and the signature pages and title pages had been messed up. It was nightmarish. We finally got all pages signed and corrected...right about 10 minutes before I have to leave. I breathe a sigh of relief knowing that tomorrow we can send out these HUGE collections of paper with time to spare.
Discovery - don't leave it off to the last minute.
Addition: I had nightmares over the weekend about this discovery. I woke up so stressed out I was actually sick to my stomach! Wow!
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