Alegre

INTRODUCTION

Twenty-three years ago, the Legislature enacted the Civil Discovery Act of 1986 (Code Civ. Proc., former § 2016 et seq.) (the Act), a comprehensive revision of pretrial discovery statutes, the central precept of which is that civil discovery be essentially self-executing. More than 10 years ago, Townsend v. Superior Court (1998) 61 Cal.App.4th 1431 [ 72 Cal.Rptr.2d 333 ] (Townsend) lamented the all too often interjection of “ego and emotions of counsel and client[s]” into discovery disputes, warning that “[l]ike Hotspur on the field of battle, counsel can become blinded by the combative nature of the proceeding and be rendered incapable of informally resolving a disagreement.” ( 61 Cal.App.4th at p. 1436 .) Townsend counseled that the “informal resolution” of discovery disputes “entails something more than bickering with [opposing counsel].” (Id. at p. 1439.) Rather, the statute “requires that there be a serious effort at negotiation and informal resolution.” (Id. at p. 1438.)

This case illustrates once again the truth of Townsend's observations, as well as highlighting the lengths to which some counsel and clients will go to avoid providing discovery (in…