Public Documents Need Not Be Automatically Disclosed in Litigation in Colorado

Today I'm changing my post's focus from traumatic brain injury ("TBI") issues, to legal issues from the Colorado Supreme Court's opinion that came out today in Averyt v. Wal-Mart, because of the significance it has to cases filed in Colorado, including TBI injury cases.  The Court in Averyt essentially carved out an exception to a party in a lawsuit's mandatory automatic disclosure of documents obligation under the Colorado Rules of Civil Procedure for "public documents."  Rule 26(a)(1)(B) states, "[e]xcept to the extent otherwise directed by the court, a party (to a lawsuit) shall, without awaiting a discovery request, provide to other parties: . . . [a] listing, together with a copy of, or a description by category and location of, all documents, data, compilations, and tangible things in the possession, custody, or control of the party that are relevant to disputed facts alleged with particularity in the pleadings. . ." C.R.C.P. 26(a)(1)(B)(parentheses added). 

In summary, the court in Averyt ruled that a City of Greeley public document - a document that could have been located equally by either the plaintiff or defendant in the lawsuit - did not have to be disclosed by the party that actually found the document after the trial that already started.

This is a very significant ruling in Colorado because now, each party in a lawsuit must be diligent in doing their own research into finding public documents that are relevant to their specific case.  The court in Averyt specifically mentioned a few public documents that do not have to be automatically produced under Rule 26(a)(1)(B): newspaper articles, minutes from meetings of governmental bodies, customer reviews, reports of health and safety inspections, complaints lodged with business rating agencies, grievances filed with professional licensing authorities, and even legal documents filed in other cases.  But the court did not foreclose the possibility that a party could still obtain, either through written discovery or depositions, information about another party's knowledge or possession of a public document. 

With this new ruling, victims of accidents should be even more diligent in finding a personal injury attorney to represent them who is knowlegable and who is going to work hard to find all the relevant public documents that could affect their case.  At Nelson Law Offices, we are dedicated to doing just that - building strong personal injury cases for all persons who are the victim of the negligence of others.