Solutions to Minimizing Bottlenecks and Moving Cases
John Day of Day on Torts, posted a Comment on my post for Why It’s So Hard to Move Cases that was so good, I decided to move the text up into a post for everyone to read. Take it away John:
In many places, significant cases do not get resolved until there is a trial date. The "trick" then is to do what you need to do to get a trial date, which will depend on what that judge requires you to have done before you ask for a trial date.
In order to keep a trial date once you get it it is essential that your office meet all deadlines. You cannot complain about your opponent missing deadlines if you do not meet them yourself.
All of this requires, as you say in your post, knowing how long things will take to get completed and building in time for the inevitable bottlenecks. I would caution, however, that bottlenecks on our side can often be avoided.
For example, one bottleneck is getting plaintiffs to do what they need to do to get discovery answered. Solution: get them a questionnaire that asks all the questions the future interrogatories will ask and get them to work on it early, before the complaint is filed. We rarely have to ask for an extension to complete our discovery because we have gotten a headstart on it. The source for the questionnaire? Take the most burdensome discovery you have ever gotten and convert it into a questionnaire. You may miss one or two of the interrogatories you eventually get, but then (a) you have 30 days to get that limited information and (b) you amend your questionnaire for future use.
Another bottleneck: getting a defendant to send discovery. Some defendants will postpone sending written discovery to prevent the plaintiff from getting a trial date. My response: I serve "Interrrogatories and Requests for Production the Defendant Would Have Served on the Defendant" on myself and then respond to them. After 24 years I know what they are going to ask. (No; I don't answer myself any questions that are "tough" for that case.) Then they have their discovery. The judges get a real kick out of it.
You can eliminate time crunches by knowing what’s going to come up as time crunches and pro-actively plan ahead. Good thinking. Thanks for the thoughts John.
I just read down your whole front page and you have a nice little blog here, probably in the top ten percent for interesting and details and topics. Just wanted you to know you impress (sorry my reading list is too long to bookmark -- ok I'll add you to "Occasionally.)
