Most Discovery Plans Start With the Law Books. We Start With the Outcome.
California premises liability discovery guides built from analysis of actual MSJ tentative rulings — RFAs, interrogatories, RFPs, and deposition strategy organized by the issues that decide the motion
In our analysis of California premises liability motions for summary judgment, the pattern was consistent. The moving party wins when one specific issue in the opposing party’s record is thin. Not all the issues — one. The inspection log. The defect measurement. The waiver scope. Build the record on that issue and you survive the motion. Miss it and the elements don’t matter.
Most discovery guides start with the law books: here are the elements, here are the defenses, here is everything you might need. Ours starts with the outcome: here is what actually ended the case, here is what you need before the motion lands.
We applied that approach to California premises liability motions for summary judgment.
We went and looked at actual cases. We looked at who won and who lost, and we looked for patterns. What was thin in the plaintiff’s record when the defense motion was granted? What did the defense fail to lock in when the motion was denied?
Then we built the guides.
Four of them:
All organized around the issues that actually decide these motions, not a device-by-device checklist. Each item tells you what it does to the MSJ separate statement and why it matters.
They work in both directions. If you’re on the claimant side, you need those facts in the record before the motion is filed. If you’re on the defense, you need to know which positions to lock in and which concessions to avoid. The analysis is the same either way.
Premises liability is the first claim type. More to come.