Legal Question in Civil Litigation in California

I am self representing. The respondent (who happens to be a Lawyer) served me a "Request for Statement of Witnesses and Evidence". I looked up The Code of Civil Procedure , Section 96 (b) and discovered that: "The request shall be served no more than 45 days or less than 30 days prior to the date first set for trial."

Our trial isn't for months, so this request was served way too prematurely. How do I object to this & is there a particular form i should use? Or do I respond by writing a declaration of some sort? Please help! Thank you!


Asked on 3/24/11, 1:05 pm

1 Answer from Attorneys
Anthony Roach Law Office of Anthony A. Roach

Keep the Request for Statement of Witnesses and Evidence, and the proof of service. I suggest you also keep the envelope it was mailed in.

You are correct on the time limitations. The statute provides that a statement responding to the request must be served within 20 days of service of the request. You are under no obligation to provide him with a statement of witnesses and evidence. If you object, now, you risk educating him and alerting him to his error.

You may want to wait until the last possible minute, such as 30 days prior to the date of trial, and then serve your own request for statement of witnesses and evidence. He may rely on his premature demand, and try to have your witnesses and evidence excluded at trial. With a copy of the demand and proof of when it was served, you can defeat this.

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Answered on 3/24/11, 3:20 pm


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