Hannah is a paralegal working in the Minneapolis law firm of Jackson & Pollack. She is an enrolled member of the Oglala Sioux Tribe and moved to Minneapolis to work with Bill Tallbear, who practices extensively in federal Indian law. Bill is representing the Red Lake Chippewa Tribe in a lawsuit involving upstream pollution of a river that runs through reservation land. As Hannah is preparing to schedule depositions and draft a request for production, a member of the tribal council calls and says, “Hannah, the other day, Bill kept talking about ‘discovery,’ and how we had to do a bunch of stuff in response to discovery. I don’t understand this ‘discovery’ thing. Don’t like the sound of it. Reminds me of Chris Columbus, and we both know that ‘discovery’ didn’t work out too well for native peoples.” Of the options listed below, what is the paralegal’s best approach to answering the council member’s question?
Explanation
Answer: A - “Well, discovery in a lawsuit isn’t like Columbus’s discovery. In a lawsuit, discovery is the process that allows both sides to collect the information relevant to the case. Both sides have the right to ask questions and request copies of documents. Then, each side works on identifying the most important evidence for use at trial.” Answer A is the best choice because it provides a short, accurate description, but it’s possible (perhaps even likely) that the council member will have other questions. Answer B is not correct because it does not address the question or the council member’s concern. Answer C is not correct because it describes the initial disclosure statement, not discovery. Answer D is not correct because answering this question, in this circumstance, would not be unauthorized practice of law.
