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Estate Notice - Missouri Department of Social Services - dss mo form

my attorney Steve fonder we're back in this exciting episode of litigation warrior we are talking about their request for production of documents this is a critical topic in every litigation so without further ado let's head to the attorney Steve litigation in white board okay let's back this up and get busy here okay this is a very important topic okay when you go to court as a plaintiff you've got to prove your case you got to have preponderance of the evidence in your civil case in some cases when you're trying to show punitive damages you need that clear and convincing evidence the burden of proof okay so let's talk a little bit about one of the discovery mechanisms that you used to try to get that physical evidence those the documentary evidence the pictures the things that you need to show to the jury and hold that up and say here it is here it is okay sometimes you have to get that from the other party one way you do that is through the request for production of documents also called inspection of documents okay this is a broad discovery tool that allows you to get documents emails phone records to enter property and inspect property take pictures to do lots of different things so it's actually a very very very broad discovery tools you need to be aware of okay so let's break it down for you in simple terms you have basically a request by the pounding party I don't know I put that for pounding party is going to propound the request upon the responding party who is then going to respond okay so it's a it's a one-two kind of thing they send the request this party has an obligation to respond within the time frames okay so let's talk real first and it in if you don't we'll break it down here for you there's a meet and confer and there could be sanctions at the end so we'll talk about this so the propounding party is going to serve on the responding party a request saying I need this I need that I want this document I want that contract I want that purchase and sale agreement I want those disclosures I want the escrow documents whatever the case may be I want your software license agreement whatever so you're gonna request your specific documents okay now keep in mind under the evidence code you're going to have a definition section in here by the way in your request for production the definition section is going to define your terms one of the terms you're going to see is what is a writing or what is it documents and you're going to look at the evidence code the health if you're in litigating in California I'm a licensed in California in Arizona so this is general legal information about these two states but in California you're looking at a very broad definition of what documents are okay tax messages electronically stored information phone records memos calendars on me all kinds of things okay so you're going to request specific documents okay now when you request specific documents usually there's less of a chance that you're going to get a objection from the opposing party because you're being very specific I want this document okay another type of request you can make is just for categories of documents let's check that box categories of document so in other words you may have a case with a lot of emails between a lot of different parties and you may say I want all your emails with that party from January 1st to December 31st okay I want all those emails now some of these are in that could be considered overly broad and we'll talk about objections in a minute that that could be considered overly broad you could raise an objection on that could be some privacy issues all Pulse all kinds of things so the more specific you can be the better but sometimes you need to get these categories of information so be aware of that your request is also going to set forth the time place and manner for the for the document production okay the turning over the documents now the propounding party may say well I want to come to your office and I want to go through I want I want the file cabinets I want to I want the documents that are responsive to this you say it's in five file cabinets and it's too many to to send me okay fine I'm gonna come to your office on this day or you may set up a so you may say well I'm gonna be at this copy office right next to us in between us both and we'll meet there and we'll copy documents or the propounding party may say you know as long as you produce a legible copy to me at this address by this date that will work for me so the request is going to set forth your time what I call your time place and manner okay it's also going to set forth your time frames your deadlines for responding okay now usually where some people get confused there's two different things here one is the obligation of the responding party to do a written response written let's just put verified let's put written verified response okay so one of the obligations is a written verified response which we'll jump ahead a level just says either I'm gonna answer I'm not gonna answer I have the document I don't have the document that was lost it was destroyed I object it could be all these different kinds of things okay that gets rid of some of those there so but one thing that you will set forth in your request is a time frame for this written response now generally you might be looking at 30 days 30 days from the date that this is served on this party may they serve the document somebody over eighteen not a party to the action serving the document on that on that party and usually 30 days now if you're mailing this in state in California add another five if it's out-of-state you know so happens have that removed if it's out of the state it's it could be ten days you got to check your rules you gotta check your rules on that it can't help on that everything but so say you give this party 40 days let's just take it a nice safe day you give them 40 days to respond but there needs to be the written response within 40 days the other thing that will be set forth is the date for the act shuold production and I put a picture here are some fancy documents some pictures of documents contracts those kinds of things licensing agreements so the you so you have two dates that are going to be in here the date to respond and the date to produce okay so follow me here the date a the date to respond with your written verifications and your response and B the actual production the actual production okay so that's what you're going to have in your request that's a simple breakdown of that the sending party is going to keep the originals and serve and serve the copies now bear in mind that the propounding party is not limited to one discovery request they can go and get their their information and they can come back again you know couple months later you know following a deposition they may say well we have more documents we need set to three okay so you can have different sets of these documents so don't think you have to get it all in in one document request get what you can be thorough make sure you're going for the documents you think you believe are relevant to to proving remember when you get to trial and hearing summary judgment you're going to need to prove what you have okay bear that in mind a responding party again in response to the written request you can you have a duty of due diligence I didn't point this out in reasonable inquiry that means when you get a request they say I need that contract that you sign with with Joe Joe Schmoe you can't just go I don't have it don't don't know who has it don't know that's not enough that's not enough under the code you have a duty of reasonable inquiry and due diligence do something call somebody you know call the escrow company today where do you have this document do you have these disclosures call the buyer the seller if you're in a real estate transaction those kinds of things so you're going to have a duty of reasonable diligence your responses here are basically going to say yes we accept this in whole we will produce the documents don't worry by date again we will produce the documents by the date set forth in your request we will produce you're following me here okay so you produce those or you're going to say I'm going to give you this but I don't have that we can't respond to this cuz I lost it I can't get you this because it burnt in a fire I can't get you this because we only keep records for three years pursuant to our statutory code requirement so I don't have it so you're going to put your objections some other objections that are common California evidence Code section 912 section 912 of the California evidence code sets for some other objections that may arise in your case they may apply for example this party is seeking attorney-client privileged documents attorney-client privileged documents or they're asking for communications between a husband and wife okay the marital communication could be could be a domestic violence victim and a counselor it could be a clergy type of privilege okay so there's lots of different privileges that you can look into more information check out our website litigation warrior and you can google the production for documents okay so you're going to raise your objections if you have them you're going to raise objections such as vague and ambiguous if you don't know what they're asking for how can you respond so it's a valid objection vague and ambiguous it's also unduly burdensome they want you to produce the whole file cabinet okay you'll hold the whole floor all your documents from 1965 to the present okay that's crazy okay say you're an escrow company that's crazy how am I going to do that so an objection would be unduly burdensome relevance is another one you know send me I'll send me all the pictures of your wife when she was a swimsuit model or something it's like what does that have to do with this contract cakes over here unduly burdensome not relevant you know those kinds of things so check out your evidence Code 912 objections your vagin ambiguous objections burdensome rejections other objections that may apply and rayma realized there's no duty to create there's no duty to create evidence documents you don't have to go they'll say well let me put that together real quick you know you don't have to do that it's no duty to create evidence yeah materials that are produced in anticipation of litigation by your counsel those would be work product protected type of documents okay finally if you're not going to disclose if you're going to object and you say I don't have it I don't do this or I'm not going to give you to you because of a privilege I feel like I'm privileged you know those kinds of things there's a privilege that applies you still should disclose the identity of the document and set forth your specific grounds as to why you're not going to produce him so don't forget that little step identify that you'd say you object identify the document and the specific grounds while you're not going to produce maybe you have a privilege log where you say this is this is on my log I'm not going to produce this this is attorney-client or this is a document I had with my clergy it's privileged those kinds of things so that is the responding party's duty to give a written verify meaning verified means under oath okay so you're gonna sign it under oath under the laws of the penalty of perjury you're going to get that back then you have fulfilled step one which is your written response requirement and then your step two is of course your production of documents requirement okay so you got this twofold thing going on here so you've got your written objection we'll check that off you produce your documents now when you produce your documents you want to state either that they're kept in the ordinary course of business and in other words somebody may give you a stack of documents and say here you go this is kept in the ordinary course of business have fun you sort through and have a good time they're kept in the ordinary course of business so that's a that's a more difficult concept it's it's something that is permissible but it's also something that could raise objections you may have to come into a meet and confer with that party that's doing the document dump just dock dumping a big set of documents on your plate so we can confer but you certify that they're kept in the ordinary course of business or you simply respond to question by question by question here's your response to request number three here's your response to requests number eight here's the contract you requested and number twelve so you can go forward and do that kind of thing so you want to be helpful and cooperative remember in civil cases this is not supposed to be trial by ambush it's not supposed to be trial by ambush you're supposed to share in exchange and this is the discovery process we're discovering I got I see what you have you see when I have we make assessments maybe we settle the case maybe we fight on maybe we disagree you know so but it's sharing the information and going about it like that okay again if you don't get your information the propounding party says I am not satisfied with this I am not satisfied with this this is improper you're withholding evidence you're abusing the the process they need to engage in the meet and confer process which is very pretty simple basically it's either somebody sends you an email or somebody sends you a letter they want to be more formal they might try to send you a letter but they outline the various issues where they asked you for specific questions you did not respond properly they want their information and if you don't give it to them by god they're going to court with a motion to compel and seeking sanctions this is every every attorney's secret weapon right so the motion the meet and confer letter that is a meeting with you I'm conferring let's get this resolved without the courts you and me give me the document go back and get that your about your objections invalid let's here's some case law here's why but the meet and confer process is a good chance to get it resolved informally the judges do not want to hear a lot of these ticky-tack disputes about this is relevant is it not did you really know what documents we'll get it worked out get it worked out get it figured out so that's your meet and confer if all fails at all all heck breaks loose you've got to go to court and file that motion to compel motion to compel discovery responses okay then you'll be seeking what I call the MIT sanctions MIT sanctions you have monetary em monetary sanctions that's attorneys fees give me my attorney fees that it took for me to come and get this evidence they're wasting my time my money my courts time a client's time I want monetary sanctions now a point I'm gonna say here for the improper plaintiffs because you don't have an attorney you can't get the monetary attorney fees attorney fees so that's one one of the you know bad things about being improper you can't get those attorney fees if the other party has an attorney they can seek their attorney fees but you can seek your costs and maybe some other things and see what you would see with the quarter Awards you so that's your em monetary sanctions I would be issued sanctions that maybe you didn't respond to a particular issue so the Court finds basically will find in favor of the other party on that particular issue so if you go to trial that issues already been decided so you know so this could be what I'm trying to say is it could be some harmful ramifications if you're not complying with their discovery requirements and heed the worst of all the death knell terminating sanctions terminating the judge can say I'm gonna I'm going to dismiss the complaint I'm going to strike the the answer of the defendants so these are terminating to terminate your your whole position so again this is a general overview now if you don't the final thing we have of discovery isn't turned over you could get at the end I have mi L that stands for motion in limine I'm going to do a separate video on this it's a separate topic motion in limine that's something that gets filed before trial telling the court exclude this don't let it in the jury doesn't get a hear it they didn't give it to me I asked for it they don't get to hear this okay so that's your motion in limine and we're going to talk about that in another video so anyway I hope this has been helpful this is attorney Steve request for production of document more information at litigation warrior calm and we hope that you have enjoyed this feel free to share this on your social media networks if you need help with arbitration litigation you need an attorney to step in you need legal advice give us a call you can find us on the web at litigation warrior dot-com attorney Steven have a great day you