Business litigation may begin with a contract breach or an actionable tort, such as interference with company operations or unfair competition. While many business lawsuits settle outside of court, some of them do proceed to litigation. What both parties uncover during the discovery process may influence the likelihood of a settlement. Discovery involves the mandatory disclosure of otherwise private information during pending litigation.
The discovery process can be one of the most challenging aspects of a complex business lawsuit, and both parties need to ensure that they are ready to handle the challenges of disclosing information and assessing the discovery materials provided by the other party.
What are the most common discovery challenges?
There are three main issues that complicate the civil discovery process in a complex business lawsuit scenario. The first is identifying the information to request from the other party.
Each party in the lawsuit can theoretically request numerous documents from the other, ranging from electronic communications to contracts. Working with an experienced business law attorney can help ensure that the documentation requested during the discovery process is appropriate and likely to provide the information necessary to proceed with the lawsuit.
The second challenge relates to fulfilling the other party’s discovery requests. In some cases, asking the courts to set aside certain requests because the information is outside of the scope of litigation or could damage the company’s competitive advantages may be part of the process.
Partially redacting certain information before providing discovery materials to the other party may also be part of the process. Especially when releasing hundreds of pages of business records, that process can require a major commitment of manpower.
Finally, the assessment of the discovery materials can be a profound challenge. Frequently, contracts and business records can add up to hundreds of pages of information, and tiny details contained within those documents could make or break the legal case. The process of reviewing discovery materials can require weeks of effort before the case goes to trial.
Working with a business litigation attorney familiar with complex discovery proceedings can help take some of the risk and frustration out of the discovery process. Effective legal guidance can help during every stage of discovery and throughout business litigation in general.