Many people think that it’s part of the game to be cute or lie in discovery, particularly in divorce cases. I had one opposing lawyer argue before a judge one time: “Heck, Judge, everyone lies in divorce cases.” Well, if you get caught lying and you catch the wrong Judge, you might get burned. In EATON CORP. v. FRISBY, NO. 2011-CA-00019-SCT (Sup. Ct. Nov. 21, 2013) the Supreme Court upheld an award of monetary sanction for “intentional discovery violations” in the amount of $1,560,642.83 against Eaton Corporation and some of its attorneys for failing to disclose the identity of a witness and documents pertaining to the case. The attorneys for Eaton had tried to play games with a partial answer and a false and misleading assertion of a privilege.
