Legal Question in Business Law in California

Re: Request for production and inspection of Documents

In my practice of law, I get (and probably send out) discovery documents containing errors of this kind rather frequently. Usually it is a consequence of preparing the discovery request by "cut-and-paste" techniques on the word processor, then not editing carefully.

I think there is a policy behind the Civil Discovery Act, that judges will recognize and enforce, that discovery should move forward smoothly and quickly to achieve the objective of prompt and full disclosure of discoverable facts well before trial.

Therefore, opposing counsel and parties should overlook obvious errors and handle the discovery according to its readily-discernible meaning, notwithstanding technical errors in its preparation. In my opinion, the right thing to do is to pick up the phone and call opposing counsel and point out the error and ask what date they really meant to specify. If that doesn't work, you can probably figure out from the other dates in the production demand, such as the date in the proof of service, plus the deadlines set up in CCP 2031, when the responses are due.

If you stand on the technicality, the court may sanction you for failure to respond (on motion of the opposing party). In any event, if the opposition is persistent, at some point you are going to be obliged to cough up the documents, so why invite delay and expense for yourself?

Re: Request for production and inspection of Documents

Well, that law is outdated, too. You are now required to respond -and- produce in 30 (plus 5 for mailing) days. The Code of Civil Procedure's Discovery Act also has been renumbered to 2031.030. Sloppy work!