The parties to a lawsuit often engage in discovery, which is a process that allows a party to obtain important information from the other party in order to assess the strengths or weaknesses of their case and also to get information from the other party. Examples of discovery are Interrogatories, Requests for Production of Documents, Requests for Admissions and Depositions. When you respond to a discovery request, you have to vouch for the accuracy of your answers and make sure your answers are complete. A recent Pennsylvania case shows that if you are not truthful or complete in your answers, you may have to pay the other party’s attorney’s fees.
Recently, the Superior Court of Pennsylvania, in SLT Holdings, LLC v. Mitch-Well Energy, Inc., 2019 PA Super 259 (2019), held that Mitch-Well Energy, Inc. was responsible for paying the other party’s attorney’s fees and costs in the amount of $8,383.40 because the president of Mitch-Well Energy, Inc., failed to provide accurate and complete responses to a Request for Admissions. Rather than providing full and complete answers to the Request for Admissions, Mr. Mitchell blanketly denied everything and signed a verification that his responses were true and correct. Subsequently, a deposition of Mr. Mitchell revealed his verification may not have been complete. Because the other party had spent thousands of dollars on attorney’s fees and costs to set up a deposition that could have been avoided if Mr. Mitchell responded completely and accurately to the Request for Admissions, the Court awarded the opposing party reasonable attorney’s fees and costs for the additional money spent on the deposition.
If you are a party to litigation and are verifying responses to discovery requests, it is very important to remember that not only are false statements subject to criminal penalties relating to unsworn falsification to authority, but also that your untruthful statements could subject you to paying for the opposing party’s attorney’s fees.
The attorneys of Supinka & Supinka, PC, are experienced in handling all types of litigation matters. For more information and a consultation, please call (724) 349-6768.
