Discovery

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Discovery is the legal process by which the parties to a lawsuit search for facts relevant to a particular case. Most people who have not been involved in litigation are surprised to learn that both sides in a lawsuit have the opportunity to gather all the facts relevant to that lawsuit.  Accustomed as they are to the surprise witness produced at the last minute by a wide variety of television lawyers, most people believe that the attorney who wins a case is the one who manages to trap her opponent by concealing crucial evidence until the last possible second.  The truth is exactly the opposite to this fiction.  Pretrial discovery is allowed because the law supports the principle that lawsuits should be decided on the facts and on the legal merits of the case, not on the ability of one attorney to conceal evidence or ambush the other attorney with surprise witnesses.