Ladies and Gents, Anyone with knowledge of the process please respond. I have filed suit on a company for failing to remove an inaccurate tradeline and being unable to validate it. The suit was filed in a state district court approx. 3 months ago. Service was made to the defendant approx 2 weeks later, providing the defendant with 2.5 months to file a motion to defend. (My state provides out of state defendants 60 days to respond.) 60 days came and went and I heard nothing. The case was set for trial on the 27th, so I decided to make one last attempt at settling by contacting the manager all my previous correspondence had been with (since I didn't know who their counsel was, to contact them). It was mailed on a friday and received on a monday. A few days later, exactly one week from the date of trial, a request for Discovery arrives in my mailbox from their attorney. It was mailed on the day my settlement letter was received. The problem I'm trying to deal with, is how should I respond to the attorney in regards to the request for Discovery. I understand this would be a great time to seek an attorney to answer this, but I thought I would throw it out here and see if anyone else has delt with the same issue. The defendant was allowed their time to file a motion to defend and did not. According to the rules, I could then request a default judgement. I was told by the clerk as well that I could, however she stated I would have to request for it in court. Seems kinda silly to request while standing in front of the judge and the defendant (is this the normal procedure?). Because the defendant did not file a motion to defend, there was never a scheduling order provided by the judge in regards to deadlines for discovery, hearings, mediation, etc. In fact, according to the federal rules of civil procedure (which my state court follows mostly), attorneys must make an amicable attempt to resolve the situation prior to the trial, and as I said previously, I knew nothing of who was representing them until I received their Discovery request in the mail with all the interragotories. The rules also state that reasonable time must be made for submission and response of Discovery items and with a trial date for the 27th, I don't see one week as being reasonable. (I've even read 14 days min before trial date, etc) They haven't responded to the settlement and there was no attempt to move for a continuance. It just seems like they are trying me to see whether I would provide the information in a timely matter or drop the case because of the intimidation. So, the few questions I have are: 1. Must a plaintiff wait until court to request a default judgement or can a motion prior to court be entered with the courthouse? 2. Does anyone know of a timeline for Discovery (not responding, but requesting)? 3. Since the attorney made no attempt to contact me and let me know he was representing the defendant and did not file a motion to defend, should I respond to his written request for Discovery stating the Federal rules of civil procedure and decline his request or just ignore him? Any other help would be appreciative.
MD. But, needless to say I received my notice from the court that a motion to defend was filed Nov. 6 (although i called last week and was told no) and the date for the case had been changed. Still interested in the rules for Discovery however.
