Condo Media - December 2010 - 26

LEGAL

by Ellen A. Shapiro, Esq.

The Language of Litigation
Plaintiffs, Defendants and Deponents
hings are going smoothly at your condominium, management is doing a great job, unit owners are satisfied, common fees have not increased and this volunteer job has finally settled down to a manageable commitment with monthly board meetings lasting two or three hours. And then, just when you thought it was safe, along comes a legal document that was left at your door and mailed to your house, and says something about serving an answer within 20 days. What happened? What is this about? It turns out that two years ago a visitor to the condominium slipped and fell. Management had promptly notified the insurance agent and the board forgot the entire matter. But this document seems to talk about that event. So, since it is a legal document, you call the association’s legal counsel who tells you to notify the insurance agent again. For the second time, management contacts the insurance agent, the papers are forwarded to the agent and once again, the entire matter is forgotten.

What exactly do you need to do? And why are you being asked to do this? Isn’t this what the attorney is being paid to do? And what is this business about taking a day off from work for a deposition — whatever that is? If you have never been involved in a lawsuit, your head would probably be spinning by now.

of the obligation to file a response, called the “answer” in 20 days. Sounds like a bad meal: something gets served, someone complains and someone has to respond to the complaint.

The Discovery Process
OK, your attorney has taken this problem off your shoulders. The attorney has

Don’t hold back on a document because you think it is unimportant. There is nothing worse than to find out there were additional relevant documents that weren’t produced because someone made a judgment call.
Let’s go back to the first document you received, and that you had completely forgotten about once it was sent to the insurance agent. That document is a “complaint,” and it is just what the name implies. Someone, called the “plaintiff,” is complaining about something that happened to him or her; in this case, that an injury was sustained while on the common area of the condominium and that the injury was caused by the association’s failure to either do something or to do something properly. The party against whom the complaint is made is called the “defendant”; in this case, that is the association. Suddenly, the board has to “defend” itself against this complaint and hence, the board is the defendant. And that piece of paper that said something has to be done in 20 days. That is the “summons.” It is the process by which the Deputy Sheriff, or any other lawfully authorized person, serves the complaint upon the defendant and informs the defendant answered the complaint and you go about your business. But, as mentioned above, a stack of paperwork has arrived anyway. The interrogatories, request for production of documents and depositions are all part of the “discovery” process. Through this process, each side seeks to learn all the information in the other party’s possession so the strength of either the plaintiff’s case or the defendant’s defense can be assessed. While interrogatories sounds like something out of the Spanish Inquisition and the polite use of the word “request” for production of documents is really a disguise for the word “demand,” take heart. Despite the ominous word, interrogatories are simply written questions that need to be answered. Generally, the individuals themselves draft the answers to the questions, which are reviewed by the attorney and prepared in the final format before they are “served” on the attorney who sent them out originally. As to the

Legal Correspondence and “Requests”
Several months later, in comes a stack of papers. One set is captioned “Plaintiff’s First Set of Interrogatories,” the second reads “Plaintiff’s First Request for Production of Documents” and last reads “Notice of Taking of Deposition.” There is a cover letter from the attorney who is representing the association in this case, which asks you to answer the interrogatories, produce the requested documents and show up for a deposition.

CONDO MEDIA • DECEMBER 2010

Condo Media - December 2010

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Condo Media - December 2010