Resource Library / SOP 06 · Propounding Discovery
Litigation · Full guide
Propounding Discovery
Written discovery is one of the most delegable tasks in litigation and one of the most commonly improvised. This guide separates the attorney decisions from the staff execution and closes the loop on the back end, where discovery workflows usually fail.
Process owner
Assigned paralegal
Reviewed by
Handling attorney
Applies to
Any matter in discovery
Review cycle
Every 12 months
Section one
The most delegable work in litigation
A paralegal with a documented workflow can carry almost the entire mechanical burden of written discovery: assembling the set, tailoring it to the case, preparing the proof of service, serving it, calendaring the response date, logging what comes back, and identifying what is missing. What remains for the attorney is judgment: what to seek, from whom, and in what order.
Most small firms have not made that separation explicit, so the attorney ends up doing both — or, more often, doing neither on time. Discovery slips because it is never the most urgent thing on any given day, and then it is suddenly the most urgent thing.
The other failure is at the back end. Firms are generally competent at serving discovery and much weaker at tracking what came back, evaluating it against what was asked, and pursuing the gaps inside a window that still leaves options open. Responses arrive, get filed, and are read properly for the first time while preparing for a deposition three months later.
This procedure is written to be jurisdiction-neutral. Every timeline, limit, and requirement below must be replaced with the actual rules of your court before use.
A note on rules
Numerical limits on interrogatories, response periods, service methods, certification requirements, and meet-and-confer obligations are all jurisdictional and often vary between courts within a jurisdiction. Nothing in this guide substitutes for reading your own rules and your own court's standing orders.
Section two
Purpose and scope
Purpose
Prepare, serve, and track written discovery as a repeatable workflow, with response deadlines calendared at the moment of service and deficiencies identified inside a window that preserves the firm's options.
In scope
Interrogatories, requests for production, and requests for admission propounded by the firm. Assembly, attorney review, service, deadline capture, logging of responses, deficiency analysis, and the documented meet-and-confer sequence.
Out of scope
Responding to discovery served on the firm's client, which is a separate procedure. Depositions and expert disclosure. Motions to compel, which follow from this procedure but are drafted under attorney direction. Electronic discovery in matters where volume makes it a distinct project.
Section three
The division of labour
Stated explicitly, because ambiguity here is why the work does not get delegated in practice.
Attorney decides
What information the case needs and what is worth the cost of seeking. Which parties and non-parties to serve. The sequence relative to depositions and expert disclosure. Whether a request is likely to draw an objection worth fighting over. Final approval of every set before service.
Staff executes
Assembly from the firm's template bank, tailoring to the case facts and applicable limits, formatting and caption accuracy, preparation of the proof of service, service through the correct channel, deadline calendaring, response logging, and the first pass at identifying deficiencies.
Attorney reviews
Every set before it leaves, for scope, accuracy, and whether it actually asks for what the case needs. Staff assembly is not a substitute for attorney judgment about content.
Both track
The discovery log lives with the paralegal and is reviewed with the attorney at a stated interval — commonly monthly on active litigation — so that nothing is waiting on a decision nobody knew was needed.
Section four
The procedure, step by step
Nine steps from decision to closed loop.
01
Attorney
Set the discovery plan for the matter
Early in the case, decide what the firm needs to prove or disprove, what information exists and who holds it, and the order in which to pursue it. Written into the file as a short plan, not held in the attorney's head, so staff can work ahead of instruction.
02
Paralegal
Confirm the governing rules and limits
Before drafting, verify the applicable response period, any numerical limits, permitted service methods, and any local or standing-order requirements for this specific court and judge. Record what was checked and when, because rules change.
03
Paralegal
Assemble the set from the template bank
Start from the firm's standard sets for this matter type. Templates save the mechanical work; they do not excuse the tailoring in the next step.
04
Paralegal
Tailor to the case facts
Replace every generic reference with the actual parties, dates, documents, and events of this matter. A discovery set that reads as though it was written for another case draws objections, wastes a response period, and tells opposing counsel exactly how much attention the file is getting.
05
Attorney
Review and approve
Read for scope, accuracy of the caption and parties, whether each request seeks something the case actually needs, and whether the set as a whole is proportionate. Approval is recorded on the file.
06
Paralegal
Serve through the correct channel and prepare proof
Serve by the method the rules permit, on every party required, and prepare the proof or certificate of service. File it where the rules require filing. Retain the proof to the matter.
07
Paralegal
Calendar the response date and an internal follow-up
Two dates, immediately on service: the response deadline as calculated under the rules, and an internal check date comfortably before it. The internal date is what allows the firm to act rather than react when responses do not arrive.
08
Paralegal
Log responses against the requests they answer
As responses arrive, record what was received and date-stamp it per the mail procedure. Then map each answer to the request it responds to, noting answered, objected, partially answered, or not answered, and log documents produced against the requests they satisfy.
09
Attorney + paralegal
Identify deficiencies inside a fixed window
Within a stated period after receipt — two weeks is a common standard — the responses are reviewed and the gaps identified. Waiting longer forfeits practical options and, in some courts, formal ones.
Section five
The meet-and-confer sequence
Documented, graduated, and complete before any motion is contemplated.
Where responses are deficient, the firm writes first. A deficiency letter identifies each response at issue by number, states specifically why it is inadequate, and requests a supplemental response by a stated date. Specificity matters: a letter complaining generally that responses were evasive achieves nothing and reads badly if it is later attached to a motion.
If the letter does not resolve it, counsel confer — by telephone or as the rules require, not by trading emails. Many jurisdictions require a genuine conference and some require a certification describing it. Make a contemporaneous note of the date, who participated, what was discussed, and what was agreed or refused.
Where agreement is reached, confirm it in writing the same day, including any extension granted and the new date. Where it is not, the record of the attempt is what supports the motion, and the quality of that record often matters more than the underlying dispute.
The attorney decides whether to move to compel, weighing what the information is worth against the cost and the court's appetite. Staff assemble the record. Nothing here authorizes a motion without that decision.
Section six
Records and where they live
The discovery log is the centre of this procedure. Without it, nobody can say what the state of discovery actually is.
Discovery plan
Short written plan in the matter, updated as the case develops
Rules check note
What was verified, for which court, on what date
Served sets
Final version as served, filed to the matter
Proof of service
Retained for every set and filed where the rules require
Discovery log
Every set served and received, with dates, deadlines, and current status
Response mapping
Each response against its request, marked answered, objected, partial, or absent
Production index
Documents received, with the requests they respond to and any numbering
Deficiency correspondence
Letters sent and received, with dates
Conference notes
Date, participants, substance, and outcome, written the same day
Section seven
Where firms get this wrong
Six patterns. Most of them are back-end failures, which is where the real cost sits.
Templates served untailored
Requests referring to facts from another case, or to parties who are not in this one. It draws objections and signals inattention.
Deadlines calendared later
Or not at all, because service was the last thing on a Friday. Both dates go in at the moment of service or the loop is already open.
Responses filed, not read
They arrive, get scanned to the matter, and are properly reviewed months later while preparing for something else.
No mapping to requests
Nobody can say which of thirty-five requests were actually answered, so nobody can say what is missing.
Deficiency letters that generalize
"Your responses are evasive and incomplete" accomplishes nothing. Number by number, with a reason for each, or do not send it.
Conferences undocumented
A call happened, its date and substance are unrecorded, and the certification later has to be written from memory.
Section eight
Adapting it to your firm
Six decisions, and the first is not optional.
Replace every timeline with your own. Response periods, numerical limits, service methods, and any certification requirement come from your rules and your court, not from this page.
Set your internal follow-up interval. How far ahead of the response deadline the internal check falls. Ten days is a common choice on a thirty-day period.
Set your deficiency review window. How long after receipt the responses must be reviewed. Two weeks keeps options open; a month usually does not.
Build your template bank properly. Standard sets per matter type, kept current, with the tailoring points marked so nobody has to guess what must be changed.
Decide the review cadence. How often the paralegal and attorney go through the discovery log together on an active matter. Monthly is the usual answer.
Write your deficiency letter template. Structured request by request, so the specificity is built into the format rather than depending on how much time the writer has.
This is often the first procedure that gives a solo attorney real hours back, because once it is written the whole cycle can be run by staff with the attorney appearing only at the decision points.
Next
Work through this with someone who has done it
Every attorney and law student who qualifies is paired with a free mentor: a firm owner, an operations expert, a finance expert, or a marketing expert. Bring this guide to the first call.
This guide is educational material published free of charge by the Law Firm Innovation Foundation, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit, EIN 42-2464496. It is not legal, ethical, tax, or accounting advice and does not create an attorney-client relationship. Professional conduct rules, trust accounting requirements, limitations periods, and procedural rules vary by jurisdiction; every reader is responsible for conforming their own practice to the authority that governs it. If you find an error or something incomplete for your jurisdiction, tell us and we will revise the page.