texasrocker

The only reason it could be waived in Texas is if one has already participated in discovery.

Service is out of their hands and in the court's after the lawsuit is filed. You should have a visit from a process server soon.

I didn't realize you had not yet been served. Wait until you are served then file your answer. Ignore any letters or calls from the plaintiff.

What is the Original Creditor and amount being sued for? You need to file an answer/general denial immediately and then decide how you want to handle it. I would say ignore any solicitations from "ambulance chaser" attorneys such as the one you received. For your answer use the same format as the Plaintiff's Original Petition that you were served with the court and case information on top of the page. DEFENDANT'S ORIGINAL ANSWER Comes now, <your name>, the Defendant in the above styled and numbered cause and files this Original Answer in this action and would respectfully show the following: I. GENERAL DENIAL Defendant generally denies each and every, all and singular, of the allegations set forth in the Plaintiff's Original Petition and demands that the Plaintiff proves same by the preponderance of credible evidence. II. PRAYER Wherefore Defendant requests judgment of the Court that Plaintiff takes nothing from the Defendant and the Defendant be granted any further relief that <he or she> is justly entitled to. <Your name, address and phone number> File it with the court immediately and send a copy via certified mail to the attorney's office that filed the lawsuit.

Such is erroneous information that will cause one to look like a fool before the court. There was a past long-time member here who advocated that at least on a weekly basis. I read the whole TFC and found that it did not mention debt validation even once,

Check your PM.

Yes,ignore any and all letters or calls from them. In general discovery ends 30 days before trial date.

MOTION SEEKING COURT'S PERMISSION TO CONDUCT DISCOVERY Comes now, Defendant ______________ and files his (or her) Motion to request permission from the honorable Court to begin Level 1 discovery pursuant to Texas Rules of Civil Procedure Rule 190.2 and Rule 500.9 Defendant hereby asks to send Plaintiff Request for Disclosure (pursuant to TRCP Rule 194), request for admissions, production of documents, and interrogatories relative to how Plaintiff intends to prove up the assignment of the alleged debt they claim to own which is the subject of the lawsuit. Defendant asserts that Plaintiff lacks standing to bring forth this lawsuit; therefore discovery is reasonable and necessary in order to develop his (her) defense and to minimize taking up the Court's valuable time. PRAYER Defendant prays that the honorable Court grant his (or her) Motion For Permission To Conduct Discovery and grant Defendant any other relief that he (she) is entitled to. CERTIFICATE OF SERVICE I hereby certify that I,__________________ sent a true and correct copy of my MOTION SEEKING COURT'S PERMISSION TO CONDUCT DISCOVERY to _____________________________________ on _______, 2019. Signed, ______________________ <Your name address and phone number>

That could be a MSJ hearing. Did you receive anything from the plaintiff? What law firm filed the lawsuit?

You say you "have court." Is it a hearing or trial or what? @fisthardcheese is there still time to initiate arbitration?

Two weeks is not much time and definitely too late to send discovery. Did you file your answer before the deadline?

Only in JP courts discovery must be pre-approved. In county and district courts you can send discovery as long as it is in line with the TRCP. "First discovery" means the plaintiff most likely embedded discovery in their original petition.

Exactly. They cannot do that anymore in JP courts without the court's prior approval but it is still common in law suits filed in county and district courts. If the defendant wants to do arbitration they can answer all of the discovery items with something like, "Objection, defendant elects private contractual arbitration." Wait and see what @fisthardcheese has to say about it.

@fisthardcheese

Absolutely not. Ask the clerk how they prefer you to go about requesting the court's approval to begin discovery.