A Guide To Conducting Discovery - Above the Law

"Litigation is chess, not checkers. In checkers, you react. You make the obvious move. You chase what's directly in front of you. In chess, you're thinking eight moves ahead. You're anticipating what your opponent is trying to do, you're setting traps, and you're building toward an endgame from move one. Discovery is where that endgame is designed. So the first move isn't drafting. The first move is clarity."

"Discovery is the part of litigation everyone claims to hate, until they lose a case because of it. Young lawyers will tell you discovery is "paperwork." Senior lawyers will sigh and call it "a grind." Judges will roll their eyes and treat it like an administrative nuisance that keeps them from the real work. That attitude is exactly why discovery wins cases."

Discovery wins cases quietly by building leverage, forcing admissions, and shrinking the other side's runway until they have nowhere left to land. Treat discovery as strategic planning rather than administrative paperwork: define a case theme, anticipate the opponent's theme, identify facts needed to prove and to block, and lock in admissions early. Approach discovery like chess—think many moves ahead, set traps, and design an endgame from the outset. Avoid boilerplate and unfocused exchanges by planning interrogatories, requests, and preservation with purpose so discovery carries a case toward resolution.

Read at Above the Law