Legal Question in Legal Ethics in California

I have a legal case in pro per as a plaintiff. Due to circumstances beyond my control I was not able to get my discovery requests in to the other side until inside the window for discovery cutoff. I contacted the other side's attorney and told him that I was going to make a motion for a continuance of the trial to give them time to respond to the discovery requests....he told me not to bother with the continuance and they would comply with the discovery requests anyway. Now he has responded with an objection to all discovery based on being too late. This attorney lied to me to prevent me from getting a continuance and he had no intention of providing the discovery items that I requested. Is this unethical conduct or jusst "good lawyering" ??


Asked on 3/05/14, 9:58 am

2 Answers from Attorneys

Anthony Roach Law Office of Anthony A. Roach

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

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Answered on 3/05/14, 10:18 am

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.

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Answered on 3/05/14, 11:45 am


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