Pg 26 Flashcards
What is a protective order in relation to discovery?
Parties can get protective orders from discovery requests that limit discovery to protect the person from annoyance, embarrassment, oppression, undue burden or expense, the potential to reveal intimate or private facts, to protect proprietary business, etc.
What happens when you’re trying to do discovery internationally?
Use the discovery procedures under the Hague convention that say that one country can send letters of request to a person in another country requesting a deposition
Does information need to be admissible at trial in order for it to be discoverable?
No, it just has to be relevant and reasonably calculated to lead to the discovery of admissible evidence
When must a court limit discovery?
When the burden of production outweighs the likely benefits. The court considers things like: TOC, value of the materials sought, and the burden of providing it
If there are issues between the parties in discovery who has to deal with that?
The parties have an obligation to try to work things out among themselves
Discovery is limited to information that isn’t what?
Privileged
What are privileged relationships?
- doctor-patient – attorney-client – husband-wife – work product immunity – priest-penitent – reporter-confidential source – scholar-confidential source – teacher-pupil – therapist-patient
What does attorney-client privilege do with relation to discovery?
Makes it so that you cannot inquire into communications between a client and his counsel in the course of the legal relationship because representation requires frank communication. Be careful because this protects communications, but not facts. So a client cannot be forced to answer what he said or wrote to his attorney, but he can be forced to divulge facts in his knowledge even though he also told them to his attorney.
What are the four elements that are required in order to create attorney-client privilege?
- the holder is or wanted to be a client
– the person he communicated with was a member of the bar or acting as a lawyer
– the communication related to the fact that the attorney was informed of by his client without strangers present for the purpose of getting a legal opinion or services [but not to commit a crime or tort]
– privileges claimed and not waived by the client
***if all of these are met, then relevant facts will be suppressed.
When is attorney-client privilege waived?
By a party’s voluntary disclosure. Once it is waived, the party can be forced to disclose it
What is the rule about subpoenas and physical distance?
Federal district court can only subpoena witnesses within that district or 100 miles of the place of deposition will be done. Although you can get around this by flying to the witness to do the deposition, paying for her to fly to you, doing a deposition by phone, or sending written questions
What is involved in automatic disclosure?
Parties must automatically disclose certain information to adversaries at the beginning without a discovery request. This is limited to discoverable information and witnesses the party can use to support its claims and defenses. This doesn’t force the admission of anything that is not intended to be used at trial
Parties must have a conference within what time period?
As soon as practicable, or at least 21 days before the scheduling conference is held. All attorneys and parties try in good faith to agree on a discovery plan and submit it to the court within 14 days after the conference outlining a written plan
What is a discovery plan?
The parties explore settlement and possibilities to resolve the case, they state their views and proposals on changes that might be made for timing, form, requirement of disclosures, etc.
Every disclosure, discovery request, and objection must be signed by whom?
One attorney of record or the party if he has a representative and must include the signer’s address, email, and phone number.
The party certifies that to the best of his knowledge, information, and beliefs, it is complete and correct at the time it was made, and not for improper purposes or unreasonably burdensome.
