ANALYSIS: Ain’t Misbehavin’? Calif. Bill Targets Discovery Abuse

Anecdotally, many US lawyers agree that discovery misconduct is escalating. There’s little consensus, however, on how to address bad-faith conduct among litigants during discovery: Do the rules need to change, or do we need better implementation and enforcement of the rules we have now?

California state senator Tom Umberg (D-Santa Ana), a practicing attorney, introduced a bill last month targeting one type of discovery abuse—intentionally withholding documents in civil litigation. SB-235 would quadruple California’s state court fine for failing to respond to document requests in good faith in specific situations—and would remove a rebuttable presumption that unrepresented persons are ...