A party must, without awaiting a discovery request, provide to the other parties: (a) the factual basis of the party's claims and defenses; In many civil actions, before the case is resolved there takes place a process known as pretrial discovery.This summary describes this process. Michigan Legal Help has tools to fill many kinds of forms but we do not cover all areas. You may have a blank form that you need to fill out on your own. Upon a defendant's request, the government must disclose to the defendant, and make available for inspection, copying, or photographing, all of the following: CPLR 3120: Discovery and production of documents and things for inspection, testing, copying or photographing. Learn what to do if you have received written discovery requests from the other side. The first step in the process is the filing of the Complaint. Next, one must serve the Complaint on the named Defendants or their agents.