Civil lit written discovery responses question: who writes draft responses first THEN sends to client for review/discussion *vs.* sending the blank discovery to client to make their notes/responses FIRST? The latter seems easier for the attorney but I've always been taught to do the former.

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Depends on the client. But generally:

Send client a copy set up phone conference with client to go over it initially, ask questions I need the answer to etc.

Then I draft.

Send to client for review and comments.

Reconcile and subsequent phone conference if needed. Send to client for final review and execution of verification if applicable.

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Depends on the type of questions, your familiarity with the facts, whether the person with your knowledge is the same as the person signing, their sophistication, and billing structure. Former takes less time often, because a lay person often doesn’t know what a full and complete response entails (either too much or too little details from them).

As an in-house (not billing) when defending I use P’s disco to supplement my investigation and corroborate client’s assertions. I usually bullet point the response and then run it by the person most knowledgeable, and line up evidence to support each assertion.

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I pretty much immediately forward the requests with a quick email note that I haven’t reviewed yet, but will follow up with them. That way clients who don’t understand discovery don’t think you’ve been “sitting on” requests for 30+ days, but it also doesn’t pressure them to take the lead on the work. Then I send them my draft responses a few days or weeks later.

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I do this but if there are some obvious issues or things I’ll need the client to do or look into, I flag in my initial email.

I send a blank copy as soon as I receive with an update on the deadline and expected needs to complete in. In the same email, I let them know I am going to circulated a draft of proposed responses and objections and then we’ll set up a call to supplement the rest and get them finalized. This way they’re not blindsided and if there’s anything glaring they have to contribute from the onset, they’ve seen the requests. Otherwise they just wait for proposed drafts where most of the work is done for them.

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Generally, I’ve found it’s quicker to draft responses first, email the draft to the client ahead of time, and then go over them together (this was an in person meeting so they could sign verifications then, pre Covid. Now it’s a phone call).

That way I can know ahead of time if there’s something I don’t know (and need to).

I always firward it to the client and give them the option of their taking the first stab at the responses versus me having a meeting or discussion and then drafting the responses. The former is usually the option most cost-conscious clients opt for, while the latter is the option opted for by my clients without cost concerns or that require more hand-holding. My preference is that the client take the first stab at it as it familiarizes them with the questions and gives me some additional information that the client may not have disclosed earlier, but oftentimes a follow-up discussion/meeting is required, but this meeting tends to be significantly shorter than when I am taking the first stab at discovery. In the end, the choice was the client's and I rarely recieve push-back complain on the bill afterwards as the client appreciates how time-intensive the task is.

It depends on the situation and the discovery being asked. It also depends on what approach you want to take. Personally, I like to cross out questions that they can't answer and let them take a stab at answering the others with either myself or a paralegal on the phone to clarify the questions for them (remember, they aren't used to reading these difficult questions). I do that because I want honest answers out of them. We can tweak the way they tell their story later. However, if you want to coach them into responding a certain way, then answer them first and then ask for their input. But be careful with this, because I've popped a few defense attorneys for playing this game. In depositions, I'll ask the defendant about his goofy discovery responses and they'll throw their lawyer under the bus in a heartbeat if it's not actually their response.

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