Okay.  First, you need to understand that when there is litigation there is “discovery”.  Generally, discovery consists of sending a list of questions or requests to the other side asking them to respond (which they are required to do by law, within reason).  The requests and questions are in writing and the response needs to be in writing. 

Long time ago, you just had to provide the written response.  But that changed and now, your response has to also contain the question/request – so that the question/request and the response are all there in one document. 

That is where, generally, I come in as a legal word processor.  I type up the response introduction (which includes certain boilerplate objections) and then I have to type in the request/question EXACTLY as it has been propounded (asked).  Then the attorney types in the response.

So.  This is what happened.

I get an email from one of our attorneys asking me to please provide the response shells for the attached discovery requests. 

Okie-dokie.  That’s what I do.

The first 8 documents are in pdf format and they are the other side’s questions and requests.  The next 8 documents are in MS Word format. 

Can you guess what the MS Word format documents were?

If you guessed they were the discovery response shells (which I had apparently already prepared) for the pdf discovery that was attached. 

WTF?

I double checked just to be sure.  And sure as shit, I had not only already done the discovery response shells, but the attorney had attached them to her email requesting me to do the discovery response shells!

I emailed her back, pointing out that she had not only sent me the discovery requests but she had also sent me the (already prepared) discovery response shells for these requests. 

I also asked her, most sincerely, – “Why would you do that?”

Seriously, why would anyone do that?

It just boggles the mind.