Legal Question in Family Law in California

Request for Extension of time to respond to Discovery rejected

I am the respondant in a family law proceeding. Plaintiff, acting in pro per, propounded discovery to me. The responses were due on Friday. On Thursday, I requested a 2 week extension of time to answer. Plaintiff said he would have to consult with his legal document preparer, and let me know. On Friday, I again inquired about the extension. Apparently, plaintiff had made no attempt to contact his document preparer. I was prepared to hand deliver my responses that day should the need arise. When I spoke to plaintiff again he denied the request due to his inability to consult with his document preparer (the office apparently closes at noon on Fridays). So now I was unable to even hand deliver my responses to that office since they were already closed. What should I do now? Can they prevail on a motion for sanctions? Do I have a defense of excusable neglect?


Asked on 4/05/09, 2:40 pm

1 Answer from Attorneys
Lyle Johnson Bedi and Johnson Attorneys at Law

Re: Request for Extension of time to respond to Discovery rejected

There must be a good faith effort to resolve the discovery issue before filing a motion to compel. Just deliver the discovery response asap. If the other party files a motion for sanctions respond with the efforts you made to comply.

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Answered on 4/07/09, 11:21 pm


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