Overview of Discovery

     Discovery has moved from being a preliminary to US litigation to being the phase of US litigation where the facts get determined and the case is prepared for motion practice or settlement, even more than trial. In other words, for US litigation discovery is now in most matters the main course, not the appetizer. While we will not go deep into the details of the discovery rules (because most of you, even if involved in US litigation, will outsource that to others) it is important to understand the various discovery tools that might be applicable, the situations under which your client might become subject to US discovery, the obligations imposed upon your clients by the US discovery process, and the consequences both of meeting those obligations and not meeting those obligations. For assessment purposes, some control of the details will be expected (pay attention to the online and in class quiz questions to anticipate likely topics), but overall be careful not to lose the forest for the trees.