ABSTRACT
Discovery is the legal term for fact-finding and evidence is what is used to prove those facts at a trial. Whether something is discoverable legally means whether the opposition has a right of access to the information sought and can force engineer to produce it as evidence. The simple answer to the question of what is discoverable in a legal action is “practically everything.” Companies and organizations become involved in lawsuits for many reasons. Three legal areas that commonly involve the work of engineers and scientists are patents, product liability, and contract disputes involving construction specifications. The writing that accompanies development of a design is so varied that it is difficult to develop specific guidelines for it. Typically, the category of writing will encompass a range of materials from proposals to spec sheets and from memos to formal test reports.
