§27.5 Purpose and Procedure

• Jurisdiction: Washington

§27.5PURPOSE AND PROCEDURE

The purpose of CR 27 is to "prevent a failure or delay of justice" by preserving testimony that might otherwise be lost (1) before an action commences, (2) in an action where judgment has been entered and the time to appeal has not yet expired, or (3) in an action where judgment has been entered and an appeal is pending. If the court is satisfied that perpetuating the testimony may prevent a failure or delay of justice, it must order discovery.

CR 27 is not intended to permit discovery prior to commencement of an action to determine whether a cause of action exists, to discover facts to frame the complaint, or to determine the existence and location of parties and witnesses. Nor does CR 27 allow a party to circumvent normal collection proceedings supplemental to judgment to discover the nature, extent, and location of a defendant's assets.

(1)Before action

CR 27(a) sets forth the procedure for perpetuating testimony before an action is commenced.

(a)The petition

The petition must be entitled in the name of the petitioner and should show (1) that the petitioner expects to be a party to a superior court action but is presently unable to bring the action; (2) the reason why the action cannot then be brought; (3) the subject matter of the expected action and the petitioner's interest in it; (4) the facts to be established by the testimony and why the testimony should be perpetuated; (5) the names or a description of the likely adverse parties and their addresses to the extent known; and (6) the names and addresses of the persons to be examined and the substance of the expected testimony of each. See Form 27-1 (Petition to Perpetuate Testimony) on the CD accompanying this deskbook. Although the rule does not...