QUESTION
Am I obligated to furnish all documents requested of me by opposing counsel in a request for Discovery in a housing court succession rights case?
Asked on Oct 01st, 2014 on Civil Litigation - New York
More details to this question:
I am trying to succede my mother's apartment and have been asked for several documents. I wanted to know whether I am obligated to furnish docs to opposing counsel or can I pick and chose what I would like to give him? This is being done outside of housing court and have decided to work this out between I the tenant and opposing counsel since I cannot afford an attorney.
1 ANSWER
Your question states that a discovery demand has been made in the context of a court proceeding, but the body of your statement states that the request is being made outside of court. If this is a discover request, you can't pick and choose, but rather must proviide every relevant document which is in your possession or control and is requested by the opposing party. Absent a Court proceeding, however, your cooperation is purely voluntary until and unless the other side takes the matter to court, and seeks discovery. However, even outside of court, if you withhold relevent documents which are requested while representing that you have provided everything asked for, and the other side relies on the information you provide, you may be committing fraud. For example, if your income is at issue, the other side asks you for documentation showing all your income from 2013, and you only provide 1 of 2 w-2's you received from different employers, without disclosing that you had additional income, that could be fraud.
Answered on Oct 02nd, 2014 at 9:33 AM