SACRAMENTO — Catherine Corfee’s conference table is cloaked in a sea of papers, Post-it Notes and a cardboard box jammed with files, all of it potential ammunition in the battle against a long-time nemesis.

“So that was June 12,” Corfee says, flipping intensely through just-provided discovery documents as her cellphone buzzes repeatedly. “And then …” The lawyer’s voice trails off, replaced by the drone of the gardener’s leaf blower from her expansive lawn outside. She seizes on a highlighted paragraph in some type of work record. “Oh, this is sooo interesting.”