Legal Question in Legal Ethics in California

You got your pocket picked. If you don't want to get your pocket picked, hire a decent attorney to handle your case.

It is your word against his as to what he said. Although not likely, it may well have been an honest misunderstanding of what he meant. Any good lawyer would have sent him a confirming letter asking him to respond if he disagreed with the letter's summary of what was agreed on. With no written record, it's your word against his. The rule is that discovery agreements must be in writing. You didn't follow the rule, most likely because you didn't know it. That's just one example of why we have the old saying that "a person who represents himself has a fool for a client." The only thing you can hope for at this point is to take this story to a judge in a motion for a continuance. I have to warn you, though, that "due to circumstances beyond my control," is one of the great BS warning flags for every judge, right behind "I was just minding my own business, when all of a sudden . . . ." So you better have a REALLY legitimate reason you could not have gotten your discovery done between when the complaint was filed and when you sent it out.