The Discovery Process

The lawsuit has been filed, the other party has answered, and now, the Discovery process begins. What precisely is Discovery? It's exactly like it sounds - a chance for each side to "discover" information about the other party. There are several forms of Discovery listed below. We will discuss the first four in this article:

• Form Interrogatories
• Special Interrogatories
• Request for Inspection of Documents, Things, and Places
• Requests for Admissions
• Oral and/or Written Depositions
• Physical and/or Mental Medical Examinations
• Simultaneous Exchanges of Expert Trial Witness Information

Normally, the first Discovery your attorney will receive, and send, are Form Interrogatories, Special Interrogatories, and Request for Inspection of Documents, Things, and Places.Sometimes, Requests for Admissions will be sent also.

Form Interrogatories are simply a standard list of pre-printed questions, in several categories, for you to answer. Your attorney will go through the questions and put a check mark next to the ones he wants the other party to answer, and the other party will do the same. The time limit to answer is 30 days. Here is a list of some of the categories of questions on the Form Interrogatories:

• General background information
• Insurance information
• Employment information
• Any mental, emotional, or physical injuries you attribute to the accident
• Property damage
• Loss of income or earning capacity
• Other damages
• Witnesses, statements, photographs
• How the incident occurred

Even though a particular item is checked, your attorney may have grounds to object to their request. Special Interrogatories are simply more questions that weren't on the Form Interrogatories.

Request for Inspection of Documents, Places, and Things is a way for one party to get the other party to provide them with copies of documents or other items in their possession, such as photographs. Sometimes one party may want to inspect something in the other party's possession, such as the vehicle.

Requests for Admissions are a list of statements that you, or the other party, must either admit or deny.

When your attorney receives these items, he will make copies and send them to you with detailed instructions on how to answer. A lot of the information he will already have, but you must answer each item as completely as you can. If you reference any documents in your answers to Interrogatories, you can attach copies and list them as Exhibits in the answers. If the same documents are asked for in the Request for Inspection of Documents, Things, and Places, your attorney will say in those answers that the documents have already been provided. You don't have to provide them twice.

For the Request for Inspection, you must provide any items that your attorney doesn't already have in your file. For example, if you have new medical documents or prescription receipts, or photographs that you have taken of the vehicle, you must provide them. They may ask for a copy of the Police Report, but they can obtain that themselves so your attorney will usually object to that request.

If you have a problem with any of the Discovery, you can make an appointment with your paralegal and he or she will help you complete everything. You must then sign a Verification, which your attorney will prepare, stating, "I declare under penalty of perjury under the laws of the State of California that the foregoing answers are true and correct."

When you have finished, your paralegal will review everything and call you if he or she has any questions or needs any further information. Once your paralegal is satisfied with your responses, he or she will prepare them in the proper format and give them to your attorney to review and sign. The main thing to remember is that each question and request must be answered or complied with to the best of your ability.