This information is generally retained by the party who requested the discovery and a copy is also generally maintained by their attorney. Unless there is some court ruling to the contrary, these documents do not need to be returned.
P.S. Please feel free to bring up this or any other topic on our live call-in show every Wednesday at 11:00 a.m. EST. Visit radio.rosen.com/live for details
Helena M. Nevicosi
Attorney with Rosen Law Firm
4101 Lake Boone Trail, Suite 500
Raleigh, North Carolina 27607
919.787.6668 main phone
919.787.6361 main fax
Charlotte Office
301 McCullough Drive
Suite 510
Charlotte, NC 28262
Main Phone: (704)307.4600
Main Fax: (704) 9343.0044
Durham & Chapel Hill Office
1829 East Franklin Street
Building 600
Chapel Hill, NC 27514
(919) 321.0780
The response posted above is based upon the limited factual information made available and is not intended as a full and complete response to the question. The only reliable manner to obtain complete and adequate legal advice is to consult with an attorney, fully explain your situation, and allow the attorney sufficient opportunity to research the applicable law and facts required to render an accurate opinion. The basic information provided above is intended as a public service only, a full discussion with an attorney should be undertaken before taking any action. The information posted on this forum is available for public viewing and is not intended to create an attorney client relationship with any individual. These answers are provided for informational purposes only, a person should consult with their own individual legal counsel before taking any action that could affect their legal rights or obligations.
Hmm. That seems kind of unfair. How does one protect himself from misuse of the discovery material? I’m mainly talking about financial data. I’m sure lawyers would just file it away, but the opposing party could do some serious damage if they were vindictive enough.
We were subject to a financial subpoena and had to submit all sorts of documents during the course of a support modification case. Of course, we turned around and subpoenaed her documents as well. It would not occur to me to use her info, of course after 17 yrs of marriage he already had her ss# and vice versa.
I would think if finacial information such as bank account numbers could be marked out on the copies given to the opposing parties…but mal is right. After being married, unless it’s a new account, the stbx more than likely has all this information to start with it just wouldn’t be up to date.
This is not a discovery between spouses. My girlfriend’s ex-husband has sued me for alienation of affection. We aren’t seeing each other. She is seeing someone else now (I didn’t know she was married). However, he is suing me as well as the current boyfriend. He has HIM for criminal conversation. SO, I have had to submit credit card statements, bank account statements, cell phone statements and so forth. I don’t remember if my social security number was on it, but they’ve brought up a credit report on me as well. You need a SSN for a credit report.
This man is very vendictive and I am scared to death he’ll do something negative with the information he has.
I would assume then that the husband and his attorney wanted to know exactly how much they could get.
I would make sure that your attorney requests that this finacial information be returned. I would also let them make a statement of why your credit information was pulled. That causes a “hit” on your credit…Your credit rating would only be useful to find out if a loan could be taken out to pay the amount ordered…I would make sure to let them know in court that you do not want this information in the hands of a jealous ex husband that you had no idea existed in the first place.
The other thing I would be curious about is that you say it’s her ex husband, but alienation of affection would not be won unless she and you began seeing each other prior to her separation or very soon after…
"To succeed on an alienation claim, the plaintiff has to show that (1) the marriage entailed love between the spouses in some degree; (2) the spousal love was alienated and destroyed; and (3) defendant
I still suggest asking the attorney to return the items and to make note in court documents that a credit check has been done by them on you. I am not certain that they have the right to do that legally without your permission…I could be wrong though.
He will have to show in court that their marriage was valid and that you intentionally alienated her from her husband…if you did not know she was married, then it’s unlikely that this will come to anything. And if I were you and this does go to court, get tossed for lack of evidence proving AofA, then I would make sure to bring up the credit check…
You can seek a protective order restricting his use of these documents. If there was a protective order in place and he ever tried to do something with them in the future he could be found in contempt of court.
P.S. Please feel free to bring up this or any other topic on our live call-in show every Wednesday at 11:00 a.m. EST. Visit radio.rosen.com/live for details
Helena M. Nevicosi
Attorney with Rosen Law Firm
4101 Lake Boone Trail, Suite 500
Raleigh, North Carolina 27607
919.787.6668 main phone
919.787.6361 main fax
Charlotte Office
301 McCullough Drive
Suite 510
Charlotte, NC 28262
Main Phone: (704)307.4600
Main Fax: (704) 9343.0044
Durham & Chapel Hill Office
1829 East Franklin Street
Building 600
Chapel Hill, NC 27514
(919) 321.0780
The response posted above is based upon the limited factual information made available and is not intended as a full and complete response to the question. The only reliable manner to obtain complete and adequate legal advice is to consult with an attorney, fully explain your situation, and allow the attorney sufficient opportunity to research the applicable law and facts required to render an accurate opinion. The basic information provided above is intended as a public service only, a full discussion with an attorney should be undertaken before taking any action. The information posted on this forum is available for public viewing and is not intended to create an attorney client relationship with any individual. These answers are provided for informational purposes only, a person should consult with their own individual legal counsel before taking any action that could affect their legal rights or obligations.
I was wondering who owns the Discovery information used in legal suits? I had to provide financial statements and other documents (deeds, 401K statements) as well as answers to questions that were part of Discovery process.
Does the opposing law firm retain this information?
Does it get returned to me?
Does the opposing firm allow the Plaintiff to keep these documents or even look at everything/make copies?
My concern is having my personal accounts floating around (social security number, bank and credit card account numbers). I do not trust the man (Plaintiff) at all and fear he may use my information for some bad uses. It’s just really none of his business. It’s personal data.