Facts Telling Your Accident’s Story Can Be Revealed During the Discovery Phase

Your case will be filed in court unless your personal injury claim settles beforehand. As the process continues, it will undergo the discovery phase, in which both sides give each other different evidence. It’s a critical part of the litigation process.

This is an opportunity to tell your story and learn about the insurance company’s defenses and the details of your case’s strengths and weaknesses. Given what parties could learn, it often leads to negotiations and settlements.

Where Does All This Start? Court Rules

Kentucky’s rules of evidence lay out the groundwork for what the parties must produce and what’s considered privileged so they can keep to themselves. That includes the following:

• Rule 402: “All relevant evidence is admissible, except as otherwise provided by the Constitutions of the United States and the Commonwealth of Kentucky, by Acts of the General Assembly of the Commonwealth of Kentucky, by these rules, or by other rules adopted by the Supreme Court of Kentucky. Evidence which is not relevant is not admissible.”
• Rule 401: ‘”Relevant evidence” means evidence having any tendency to make the existence of any fact that is of consequence to the determination of the action more probable or less probable than it would be without the evidence.’
• Rule 403: “Although relevant, evidence may be excluded if its probative value is substantially outweighed by the danger of undue prejudice, confusion of the issues, or misleading the jury, or by considerations of undue delay, or needless presentation of cumulative evidence.”

There are many other reasons to exclude evidence, including it’s privileged by the fact:

• A party created a document while anticipating or preparing for litigation
• Evidence involves discussions between an attorney and their client about the case or something relevant to it

Whether something is relevant and admissible in court is only the start for facts or material sought in discovery, according to Kentucky court rules:

“Parties may obtain discovery regarding any matter, not privileged, which is relevant to the subject matter involved in the pending action, whether it relates to the claim or defense of the party seeking discovery or to the claim or defense of any other party, including the existence, description, nature, custody, condition and location of any books, documents, or other tangible things and the identity and location of persons having knowledge of any discoverable matter. It is not ground for objection that the information sought will be inadmissible at the trial if the information sought appears reasonably calculated to lead to the discovery of admissible evidence.”

State court rules spell out the discovery methods available to clients and their attorneys:

• Depositions: Fact and expert witnesses are put under oath and asked questions by both parties’ attorneys
• Written interrogatories: Written questions
• Production of documents or things: The parties can be asked to provide documents (on paper or stored electronically), objects, information, and data
• Permission to enter upon land or other property for inspection and other purposes: If something important occurred at a particular private property, the parties can ask to go there, inspect it, take measurements, or do other things helpful to their investigation or case
• Physical and mental examinations: If a person’s psychological or physical situation is an issue, a party could be subject to an examination by the other side’s expert
• Requests for admission: This asks a party to admit or deny a series of statements. They can help narrow down disputed issues and may force a party to admit something damaging to their case

As you can see, both parties have a lot to work with.

What are the Limits on Discovery Requests?

There are limits to what a party can ask of or seek from the other beyond privilege protections. Discovery is to shed light on a case, not harass or trick someone into mistakenly stating or admitting something harmful. Some grounds to object to a discovery request include that it’s the following:

• Repetitive
• Argumentative
• Seeks speculation by the party
• In many parts and difficult to understand
• Irrelevant or overly broad
• Seeking a legal conclusion
• Vague or ambiguous
• Unduly burdensome
• Seeking documents or information in the other party’s possession

One side may want as much information as possible to help build the case or defenses, while the other party wants to narrow the scope so it’s easier to respond to and less likely to produce something damaging. If not worked out amongst the attorneys, discovery objections can be decided by the case’s judge.

Speak To A Satterley & Kelley, PLLC Personal Injury Attorney Today

Discovery is a set of tools that help us build up your case and try to tear down the insurance company’s defenses. Thanks to our many years of representing injured clients like you, we use these tools to the greatest extent possible.

If someone else’s negligence caused injuries to you or a loved one, Satterley & Kelley PLLC lawyers can protect your interests and legal rights to compensation.

Schedule a free initial consultation by calling our Louisville office at 855-385-9532 so we can discuss your situation. If it’s more convenient, complete our online contact form instead.