Deck 7: Gathering Evidence

Question 1

The rules of discovery provide that discovery may be conducted only while an action is pending.

Answer 1

False

Question 2

It is perfectly proper to help a witness to be accurate with estimates and recollections.

Answer 2

True

Question 3

Whenever a party serves a discovery request upon one party, a copy of the request must be served upon all other parties.

Answer 3

True

Question 4

DEFINE
judgment

Question 5

A party's investigation is strictly limited by the court's discovery plan.

Question 6

Are an investigator's communications with a witness privileged or otherwise protected from inquiry by the opposing party and his or her representatives?

Question 7

Is it proper to inform a witness to an accident that the witness is mistaken about matters which the witness believes he or she observed?

Question 8

Why should an investigator have a theory about how the accident occurred or why the claim arose?

Question 9

What is a court ordered discovery plan?

Question 10

Each party has the duty to supplement responses to discovery, including the duty to disclose new information that has been acquired since the original disclosure, in order that the responses be complete.

Question 11

DEFINE
attorneys work product

Question 12

The answers to interrogatories must be made under oath.

Question 13

Paralegals may not:

A) handle any aspect of an investigation.
B) prepare written interrogatories, subject to a lawyer's supervision.
C) prepare requests for admissions, subject to a lawyer's supervision.
D) take a discovery deposition.

Question 14

A lawyer has legal and ethical duty to present all of the evidence he or she gathers in a case.

Question 15

Paralegals may play a major role in the preparation of the Discovery Plan and in working out the details of the plan.

Question 16

DEFINE
sanctions

Question 17

Name three advantages that an investigation has over discovery procedures.

Question 18

DEFINE
fact

Question 19

If a fact is alleged in the complaint and is admitted in the answer, is it necessary for either party to offer evidence at trial to prove that fact?

Question 20

A party cannot be compelled by the courts to disclose evidence that is adverse to that party's position.

Question 21

Why is it a good idea, if not essential, to get an early start on an investiga- tion?

Question 22

What do the new discovery rules indicate about a party's duty to disclose information concerning the damages that party claims?

Question 23

How much information must the initial disclosure contain about documents and other tangible things?

Question 24

What is the primary consideration in determining whether an inquiry is within the scope of discovery?

Question 25

What recourse does a party have if another party fails to comply with discovery demands?

Question 26

What penalty, if any, might a court assess against a party who wrongfully refuses to make admissions pursuant to Rule 36?

Question 27

Why is it necessary for courts to conduct trials, rather than simply listen to the parties' stories and then declare the parties' rights and obligations?

Question 28

Is there a procedure in civil litigation by which a person can obtain leave from a court to take another person's oral deposition for the purpose of discovering evidence or preserving evidence even though a lawsuit has not yet been commenced?

Question 29

Briefly, how do the Rules of Evidence help to implement the policy of full access to the evidence?