Personal Injury Lawyer Blog
The following blog entry is written from a defendant’s position during the early stages of litigation. Reviewing this kind of briefing should help potential plaintiffs and clients better understand how parties in personal injury cases present such issues to the court.
(Please note: the names and locations of all parties have been changed to protect the confidentiality of the participants in this sexual harassment/personal injury case and its proceedings.)
Three more times on June 8, 2006, Ms. Brown’s counsel requested firm deposition dates for Defendant’s deposition. On or about June 9 and June 10, Ms. Brown’s counsel again requested concrete deposition dates. In response to Ms. Brown’s counsel’s emails, Mr. Steinman responded on or about June 10, 2006 and stated that there was no need to depose Defendant before August since there was no trial date set in this sexual harassment matter.
Ms. Brown’s counsel responded to Mr. Steinman’s email by again offering to fly to New York to take Defendant’s deposition and reiterating that the fact that there has not yet been a status conference or trial date set is of no moment and is not a valid excuse to delay the taking of Defendant’s deposition.
In all, Defendant has contended that he must not appear for his deposition before August 2006 because: 1) he is on a business trip in New York; 2) this case has not been set for trial; and 3) Ms. Brown will not be prejudiced if forced to wait. None of these excuses are legitimate reasons as to why Defendant’s deposition should be postponed for months. Moreover, to this day, defendant has failed to give Ms. Brown concrete dates upon which he would be available for his deposition.
If defendant is not playing hide and seek, then one would expect him to freely offer dates of availability. Instead, Defendant has stood by his excuse that he is too busy and, when he is available, Ms. Brown will be permitted to litigate her claims. Defendant’s discovery abuses must stop. (See Part 4 of 6.)
For more information you are welcome to contact Sacramento personal injury lawyer, Moseley Collins.