xavi72 Posted August 7, 2013 Report Share Posted August 7, 2013 I've seen timelines here on what to do 60 days prior to the court date but if I want to be proactive what should I be doing in the meantime? The reason I ask is because in the Court where I'm defending my case, there will not be a CMC but instead, I will get a notice for my trial date which could be in the next several months or a year from now. I don't want to get blindsided and not have enough time to propound discovery, BOP, etc. but I also don't want to give the Plaintiff too much time to be able to get the documents that I would be requesting. Any suggestions/advice would be greatly appreciated!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hot in az Posted August 7, 2013 Report Share Posted August 7, 2013 If you are in civil court I would google California Rules of Procedure for Civil Court. That should walk you through each step. Calawyer is from your state. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hot in az Posted August 7, 2013 Report Share Posted August 7, 2013 Oh and to get help I would post the answers to the questions in the pinned section so we know what your case is about. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Huey Pilot Posted August 7, 2013 Report Share Posted August 7, 2013 This is an excellent question of weight and timing. There seems to be two schools of thought on this issue. 1 - Some of the senior posters on the forum have stated that it's a good idea to send off your requests for discovery and admissions immediately after filing your answer to show you mean business and it's going to cost the Plaintiff considerable amounts of money to continue the fight increasing your chances for an early dismissal. Motions to Compel and Motions for $5000.00 Sanctions for late discovery etc.....Message becomes clear there will be no default judgment. Proactive approach. 2 - Others have suggested the strategy of relying on the Rules for Civil Procedure for your State and submitting your pre-trial motions on the statute timelines to minimize the prep time Plaintiff will have to respond to your motions to preclude or strike evidence admissions requests if any. I.E. making your submissions 10 or 14 days prior to the actual court date. If you don't request additional discovery you only have to work on the denial of what's been submitted with the complaint. Let sleeping dogs lie approach and watch the Court docket daily. I'm pretty basic and want all the time I can get to research everything and make the best defense I can so I prefer the first approach. Maintain the fight and force the plaintiffs attorney to respond to all my motions and filings continuously costing the Plaintiff as much money as I can. California has all kind of submission forms to simplify the process but probably works the same way in the long run. Cost the Plaintiff more money then he's willing to pay and get a dismissal. In Oregon we have Court adjoined Arbitration and an automatic win for the JDB. Oregon's way of keeping a bunch of dead beat attorneys employed and sorts a lot of cases out of the system prior to going to Real Court on Appeal. It's a good place to practice your compilation of documents and to test how the Plaintiff's attorney is going to react. A total filing of 6 - 8 inches in thickness of paper work to respond to and the cost of flying in witnesses shuts them down quickly. I recently learned that after arbitration and having filed a request for trial de novo it's a good idea to send a letter to the Plaintiff's counsel suggesting he advise his client that you are going to retain an attorney for your defense and to anticipate legal costs and fee's of at least $50,000.00. Weighing in on your previous submission of 8 inches of paperwork, and you with a tall building lawyer, plaintiff with the low bar exam score bill collector attorney might take you seriously and dismiss. Checkmate! HP Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ASTMedic Posted August 8, 2013 Report Share Posted August 8, 2013 What have you done so far? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
xavi72 Posted August 8, 2013 Author Report Share Posted August 8, 2013 What have you done so far? Filed my answer at the end of July. It included a request for a jury trial, general denials with about 12 sold affirmative defenses. I've had my BOP ready to go since about a month ago but haven't quite pulled the trigger since I'm not sure that would give the plaintiff too much time to get all its ducks in a row. I've read your thread on how you defeated Midland and with your discovery, you only included 3 ROGS and that was it. Is this accurate? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RyanEX Posted August 8, 2013 Report Share Posted August 8, 2013 I think it's a good idea to fire off your BOP right away. Plaintiff has only 10 days to respond, after which you can start filing motions to compel, then motions to preclude that evidence if they can't produce it in time. Can others confirm or correct my thoughts here? (BOP was inappropriate in my case, so haven't worked with it. Only going off what I have seen in other threads) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
unemployednomore Posted August 8, 2013 Report Share Posted August 8, 2013 I think it's a good idea to fire off your BOP right away. Plaintiff has only 10 days to respond, after which you can start filing motions to compel, then motions to preclude that evidence if they can't produce it in time. Can others confirm or correct my thoughts here? (BOP was inappropriate in my case, so haven't worked with it. Only going off what I have seen in other threads) I agree with the BOP suggestion. Based upon the response to this request, you can figure out further strategy. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
xavi72 Posted August 8, 2013 Author Report Share Posted August 8, 2013 I think it's a good idea to fire off your BOP right away. Plaintiff has only 10 days to respond, after which you can start filing motions to compel, then motions to preclude that evidence if they can't produce it in time. Can others confirm or correct my thoughts here? (BOP was inappropriate in my case, so haven't worked with it. Only going off what I have seen in other threads) I agree with the BOP suggestion. Based upon the response to this request, you can figure out further strategy. I also want to clarify that I'm dealing with an OC so this is the reason why I'm a bit hesitant to shoot off the BOP to the plaintiff so early. Also, this is my second time around with this OC for the same account but different collection lawyer so I'm wondering if they have another strategy in the works. In my previous defense, I did a BOP in which they responded with only statements. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RyanEX Posted August 8, 2013 Report Share Posted August 8, 2013 ^ Ah, understood. Good sign that in the first go-round the lawyer could only produce statements. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
unemployednomore Posted August 9, 2013 Report Share Posted August 9, 2013 I'd still do the BOP. The bill of particulars furnished by the plaintiff is treated as an "amplification" of the pleadings. As such, it has the effect of a pleading. Consequently, at trial, Plaintiff is limited to the items and amounts specified in his or her bill of particulars. No additional items can be shown. (See Baroni v. Musick (1934) 3 Cal. App. 2d 419, 421.) 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
xavi72 Posted August 9, 2013 Author Report Share Posted August 9, 2013 I'd still do the BOP. The bill of particulars furnished by the plaintiff is treated as an "amplification" of the pleadings. As such, it has the effect of a pleading. Consequently, at trial, Plaintiff is limited to the items and amounts specified in his or her bill of particulars. No additional items can be shown. (See Baroni v. Musick (1934) 3 Cal. App. 2d 419, 421.)Thanks for the the case....I will definitely be sending the BOP tomorrow. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rookie Posted August 9, 2013 Report Share Posted August 9, 2013 So, after you receive their response to the BOP do you send ROA? And what are some sample questions to ask? Anything else that should be requested from the Plaintiff? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rookie Posted August 9, 2013 Report Share Posted August 9, 2013 I just googled the case mentioned above and found this blog. It might have some helpful information for cases in CA:http://burmanparalegal.wordpress.com/tag/defendant-in-credit-card-litigation/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
xavi72 Posted August 26, 2013 Author Report Share Posted August 26, 2013 So as suspected, I received my BOP request with only statements dating from year three until the alleged account went was charged off. I specifically requested how they calculated the totals and for signed applications so does this mean it's an incomplete BOP? Should I Meet and Confer requesting more specifics? I just got my notice of Trial and it won't be until 9/2014 so I still have more than enough time but want to be proactive.. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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