Legal Question in Business Law in California

You would have to file a motion to reopen discovery, if the trial court did not continue the discovery cutoff date as part of the continuance of the trial date. But you have other problems as well. A subpoena is not used to obtain records from a party, it is used to obtain records from a third party. Your term "plaintiff's client" does not make sense, as the plaintiff is the client and is usually represented by an attorney.

Mr. Roach may have misunderstood part of your question. Many people and businesses have clients, and some of them are plaintiffs. If you meant the plaintiff himself (the client of the opposing lawyer), then you would not have needed a subpoena to get records from him. But if you really do mean a client of the plaintiff, then you would.

When somebody does not respond adequately to discovery, the asking party can bring a motion to compel further responses. The deadline for such a motion is typically 45 days after the responses are served. Once the motion is filed, it will be a few weeks (or more) before the court will hold a hearing. If you missed the deadline then it will be hard to persuade the court to excuse that delay. That would have been true before your trial was moved and continued, and it is equally true now.

You were supposed to time your discovery so you would be able to bring any necessary motions to compel before the motion cutoff date. Unless that date has been extended, it is probably too late to bring a motion to compel even if the full 45 days have not yet passed.

The court can grant you relief from missing these deadlines, but only under unusual circumstances. The fact that you now have a later trial date will not be enough. Combined with other factors, though, it might be helpful. Seeking such relief is not easy. You should get a lawyer to help you if you don't have one already.

Good luck.