A party’s discovery obligations go beyond simply responding to another party’s requests. Each party in a civil case must also make specific mandatory disclosures to the other parties. This happens at three different times before trial. These times include initial disclosures, expert-witness disclosures, and pretrial disclosures.

 I. Initial Disclosures

Let’s first put these disclosures in the context of pretrial scheduling. Early in a case, the court will issue a...