While the discovery process can be difficult, time-consuming and expensive, there are a few key things you can do as a junior attorney to help streamline the process and minimize the burden on your client, the court and your team. As we know, cases are often won, lost, or settled on the strength of positions developed and revealed through discovery—that is what makes discovery so important … and dare I say, exciting! While more senior litigators may oversee the discovery process, it is often the junior attorneys who receive the opportunity to execute the day-to-day strategy. With a little foresight, junior attorneys can minimize the potential chaos and maximize the strategic value they bring to a case by: planning ahead; considering the forum; knowing the rules; and cooperating in discovery with opposing counsel, as necessary.

Plan Ahead

Developing your discovery plan early is one of the most important ways you can add strategic value in your case. To develop your discovery plan, one should review any pleadings and talk to the team to ensure that you understand the issues in the case and your client’s goals at the outset. You should also understand what types of documents your client has in its possession, custody or control. Many cases do not require expensive full-scale document production with millions of pages of paper and electronic documents. Such collection and production may be burdensome for the client and may not be required in the case. Once you understand the client’s goals, the general scope of the issues, and the client’s own document collection capabilities, you will be in a better position to negotiate a case schedule and reach appropriate agreement on the scope of discovery with opposing counsel. Failure to reach agreements up front can lead to a lot of headaches and unnecessary disputes down the road.

Consider the Forum