Discover Facebook, it's case law!

A Pennsylvania court recently ruled that postings on Facebook pages are discoverable.  The court ordered the plaintiff to provide their user name and password to allow production of posted information. Largent v. Reed, Case No. 2009-1823 (C.P. Franklin Nov. 8, 2011) includes an opinion from Judge Richard J. Walsh discussing social media electronic discovery. 

Some things should not be said at a deposition

Here's an awesome video excerpt example of what you shouldn't say at a deposition.  This guy looks strangly familiar...

Using Requests for Admissions Effectively

Great Requests for Admissions (called RFAs in my state) are works of art, finessed to corner your opponent into admitting facts, and potentially winning the case on admissions. They can also be used to win certain motions in limine, among other things, if they don't obviate pretrial resolution.

If your state follows general guidelines for RFAs, you are limited to a particular number of requests, making the choice of words all the more important. Also, making each RFA about one simple fact is vital. Compound requests are easily denied if any one part of the request isn't true.

Getting started with your draft is often the most difficult part for newer paralegals. Remember, the complaining party usually has the burden of proof (excluding successful Res Ipsa Loquitor jury instruction arguments), so if you can prove or disprove the allegations of the complaint, the case can be won or lost.  Here are some good starting places: