On July 11, 2018, three members of the Dallas judiciary—Hon. Irma Ramirez, Hon. Dale Tillery, and Hon. Maricela Moore—gathered to discuss their thoughts on the current state of discovery practice in Texas litigation and guidelines young lawyers should follow to effectively utilize requests for, and objections to, discovery. First, the Judges discussed how the expanded use of “boilerplate” requests and objections can harm a litigant’s credibility and may actually be counterproductive to the litigant’s ultimate goal. Next, Judge Moore and Judge Ramirez discussed the distinctions between state and federal law regarding the imposition of discovery sanctions and what factors they each consider when determining whether a litigant’s conduct necessitates sanctions. Finally, Judge Tillery discussed the impact of Electronically Stored Information on discovery practice, drawing on his recent experience in Reavis v. Toyota Motor North America, et al. While each panelists expressed unique views on individual facets of discovery practice, they all agreed enhancing effectiveness in discovery practice is one of the best ways young lawyers can improve their overall litigation practice.
The DAYL would like to thank each of our esteemed panelists for their continued support of DAYL. If you would like a copy of the PowerPoint used during the presentation, please contact Cherie Harris or Dwayne Lewis.