Lawyer Law Firm, PC

1234 17th Street, Suite 123 Denver, CO 80201 303.030.3030 llawyer@lawyer.com

TO:

Carlos Montez

FROM:

Larry Lawyer

DATE:

May 4, 2015

RE:

Next Steps to Defend You

Mr. Montez, after receiving your email, I feel it is vital to describe your legal obligations,

ways I can help you, and serious consequences for you if you fail to comply.
In your email, you stated that you intend to ignore three legally-binding requests made of
you, and you implied that you may destroy evidence. If you follow through on any of those
threats, you will not only lose your case, you will likely have to pay Ms. Rakowskis lawyers for
the time they spent on this matter, me for the time Ive advised you, and all damages Ms.
Rakowski asked her in her Complaint. In addition, the Courts decision against you will be open
to the public, including possible customers who do a simple name check on your company. In
short, you cannot simply refuse to cooperate without suffering serious consequences.
Ms. Rakowskis lawyer requested written answers to questions (interrogatories);
documents in your possession that are important to the case (requests for production); and for
you to admit or deny certain facts (requests for admission). Although these things are called
requests, they are things that you must do. While they will take some time, they will save you
both time and money in the long run by not having to discuss these things in front of a judge.
Discovery allows me to develop arguments to persuade the judge to decide in your favor
based on all the informationif it ever reaches a judge. Often, this process will show both sides
that it is unnecessary to continue costly, time-intensive court proceedings, and instead the parties
agree to settle the case privately among themselves.
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WHAT YOU ARE OBLIGATED TO DO

When you build a structure in Colorado, you have to follow local building codes and
rules. Within the Colorado legal system, we must follow the Colorado Rules of Civil Procedure.
Those rules state that you must (with my guidance):

Truthfully answer all the 30 interrogatories (questions) asked of you by Ms. Rakowskis

lawyers.
Turn over the 20 original documents that Ms. Rakowskis lawyers have requested and
which are important to the case. If documents are legally considered privileged or not

relevant, I will be allowed to keep them from Ms. Rakowskis lawyers.

Truthfully admit or deny the 20 facts that Ms. Rakowskis lawyers have to say about the
case. The facts that you have admitted are entered into the case as true and cannot be later
disputed. The facts that you do not deny are also entered into the case as true and cannot

be later disputed.
We have to complete these things 49 days before the trial date, which is July 10. That
deadline is May 22. We must get started immediately.

WHAT WE CAN DO TO HELP YOU MEET YOUR OBLIGATIONS

My paralegal, Amy Morris, can walk you through all the interrogatories (questions) asked
by Ms. Rakowskis lawyers and can write down your answers for my review. Or, if you
prefer, you can draft the answers yourself and give them to me. Do not submit the
interrogatories to Ms. Rakowskis lawyers yourself, because anything you say in the

interrogatories can be used as fact in courteven if you misunderstood the question.

My paralegal can go to your office to gather the documents Ms. Rakowskis lawyers have
requested, and copy those documents for your files. The original files will be returned to
you after the case is over. If you believe that some documents are not relevant or contain
privileged information, I may be able to keep those documents from being shared with
Morris Negotiation Memo Page 2

the plaintiff. I must see all the documents to determine whether any would be considered
privileged or non-relevant under the rules in C.R.C.P. 26(b)(1) and can be kept from Ms.

Rakowskis lawyers.
My paralegal can also go through the facts that Ms. Rakowskis lawyers have submitted,
and help you determine whether you should admit or deny each fact. It is very important
that you neither admit nor deny anything directly to Ms. Rakowskis lawyers; allow me to
first review your admissions and I will submit the final document to the other side.

WHAT YOU ARE, UNDER LAW, FORBIDDEN TO DO

You may not refuse to give Ms. Rakowskis lawyers the answers, documents or
admissions that they have requested. You may not destroy any documents or digital information
(including text, email, or voice mail messages) that may be relevant to this case. You may not
evade any answer or give an incomplete answer. You may not give an untruthful answer.
WHAT WILL HAPPEN IF YOU DONT MEET YOUR OBLIGATIONS
If you refuse to give the answers, documents or admissions that Ms. Rakowskis lawyers
have requested by the May 22 deadline, a combination of many things may happen:

You may have to pay her lawyers fees

You may not be allowed to show evidence that helps you
The Court may assume that everything Ms. Rakowskis lawyers have argued are true
The trial may drag out longer, increasing your costs
The Court may find in favor of Ms. Rakowski without your input (a default judgment)
I believe that the Court will likely come down fairly hard on you. Judges do not look

kindly upon parties who disregard its rules. In its own words:
In our view, willfulness implies a deliberate or intentional disobedience of the
discovery rules or the lawful orders of the court. Bad faith, on the other hand,
connotes conduct which, although not necessarily deliberate or intentional,
nonetheless amounts to a flagrant disregard or dereliction of one's discovery
obligations. In view of the fact that sanctions authorized in C.R.C.P. 37(b)(2)
range over a wide areae.g., an order staying the proceedings until the discovery
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order is obeyed, an order designating facts as established, an order prohibiting the

disobedient party from establishing a claim or defense, the entry of a default
judgment against the disobedient partya court should exercise an informed
discretion in imposing a sanction which is commensurate with the seriousness of
the disobedient party's conduct.
Kwik Way Stores, Inc. v. Caldwell, 745 P.2d 672, 677 (Colo. 1987)
Also, because you have told me that you do not intend to comply with your obligations, I
will be professionally bound to withdraw from your case if you follow through with your
intentions. You will still owe me the money I have earned by working on your case, and you will
lose more time and money by finding a new lawyer and bringing him or her up to speed on your
case. And, in the end, if you still insist on ignoring your obligations and destroying evidence, you
will lose.
Mr. Montez, I know that you are frustrated. Please understand that I am here to help you.
Please call my paralegal, Amy Morris, as soon as you receive this memo so that we can continue
to guide you through this process.

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