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Plaintiffs and defendants in civil lawsuits, including Schedule A cases, are both responsible for developing the evidence they will need to substantiate their claims. Litigants almost never begin a lawsuit having everything necessary to make a strong, comprehensive case to a jury. This is where the process of discovery proves essential. Governed by often complicated rules and deadlines, successful use of discovery is vital to the outcome of your intellectual property matter. The Keleher Appellate Law Group explains.
What Is Discovery?
Discovery is a formal process in civil litigation during which parties to a lawsuit request and exchange relevant documents and information, much of which will become evidence to support their claims or refute opposing ones. Both defendants and plaintiffs can send discovery requests to one another. In general, parties are obligated to answer questions and provide records pursuant to the requests they receive, although they can make certain objections (e.g., that the request is for information that is irrelevant to the lawsuit). Parties who do not comply with reasonable requests for relevant information can be ordered by the court to respond to the requests.
Since Schedule A lawsuits involve federal law, discovery is controlled by the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure. There are several tools that litigants use to get the evidence they need, including:
- Initial and mandatory disclosures: The federal rules require parties, without being asked to do so, to provide each other with certain records and information related to the lawsuit. There are exceptions and exemptions which your lawyer should understand.
- Interrogatories: These are written questions that must be answered under oath. They are often used to obtain basic information about the case such as dates, locations, and more. Sometimes interrogatories open the door to additional discovery requests.
- Requests for admission: As the name implies, these questions ask a party to admit certain facts related to the lawsuit. The objective is to narrow the scope of litigation by dispensing with allegations and claims that are theoretically not in dispute.
- Requests for production of documents and tangible things: Here, parties ask for records as well as tangible items that are connected to the parties’ claims. Physical evidence can be inspected and acquired for presentation in court.
- Depositions: Witnesses and parties may be deposed to better understand what they know about the case. The testimony provided during a deposition can later be admitted as evidence.
- Expert witness discovery: An expert witness is someone with specialized knowledge who can testify to a jury about complicated matters. Intellectual property lawsuits generally involve topics that lay persons do not understand, so parties must rely on expert witnesses. Special rules govern their participation in the lawsuit.
Strategies to Use in Your Schedule A Discovery
Our firm approaches the discovery phase of Schedule A litigation with the following objectives:
- Leveraging our experience: Schedule A cases are rapidly growing in popularity but are still relatively novel in the world of intellectual property litigation. We understand the claims made in these cases and what sort of evidence to look for in effectively advocating for you.
- Organizing and preparing documents: Technology helps parties organize documents and streamline the lawsuit, both in responding to discovery requests and in managing the often voluminous records produced by other parties. Preparation of outgoing documents requires making redactions (sometimes to large amounts of documents) as necessary to preserve attorney-client privileged information.
- Drafting effective requests: Discovery is limited. For example, parties are typically only allowed to serve 25 interrogatories on another party. For both practical purposes and to comply with discovery rules, your requests should be properly tailored to obtain all of the information you need to present the best case in court.
- Conducting depositions: Deposing parties in a Schedule A lawsuit can be challenging, especially given the international nature of many of these cases. Nonetheless, depositions may prove vital to your case and we will use them as needed to strengthen your position in the lawsuit.
- Negotiating to resolve discovery disputes: Disagreements often arise over the scope of discovery requests and what exactly parties must produce in response to them. While a court can ultimately rule in the matter, these issues are sometimes best left to negotiations between the attorneys.
Getting the Most Out of Schedule A Discovery
Navigating discovery in a Schedule A lawsuit requires careful planning and consideration of how to use limited resources to attain the most advantageous outcome. When done properly, discovery can enhance your performance at trial or during mediation. Find out why so many clients trust The Keleher Appellate Law Group to handle their Schedule A cases. Call us today.
The Keleher Appellate Group, LLC, serves clients in Chicago, Denver, St. Louis, and the surrounding areas in Illinois, Indianapolis, Indiana, Missouri, Wisconsin, and Colorado. We also provide our services nationwide and internationally.