The defendant was a dissolved fashion technology startup that had gone through an assignment for benefit of creditors — the corporate equivalent of an informal liquidation. No active employees remained. Corporate records were scattered across former executives, personal email accounts, and cloud storage services with expiring credentials. The plaintiff alleged exempt misclassification, unpaid overtime, missed meal and rest periods, and wage statement violations. The 121-page discovery response to 92+ document requests was designed not merely to comply with discovery obligations but to affirmatively build the exempt classification defense into the document production framework itself. Each objection anticipated the specific certification motion arguments the plaintiff would later make. The document index cataloged 90+ responsive documents by Bates number with explanatory parentheticals connecting each document to a specific defense theory — job duties analysis for the administrative exemption, salary basis documentation, discretion and independent judgment evidence. The production told the defense story before the defense was formally asserted.
Discovery
Dissolved Fashion Startup
121-page discovery response reconstructing an employment framework from corporate fragments.
The Transferable Point
Discovery responses for dissolved entities must serve double duty: compliance with production obligations and affirmative construction of the defense narrative. When corporate records are scattered across custodians, the document index becomes the defense's primary storytelling vehicle — each document cataloged with explanatory parentheticals that connect it to a specific defense theory. The production itself is the defense.
Methods Applied
- Multi-custodian record reconstruction (former executives, personal email, expiring cloud storage)
- Defense-forward document production framework design
- Anticipatory objections mapped to future certification motion arguments
- Bates-numbered document index with defense-theory parentheticals (90+ documents)
- Administrative exemption evidence curation: job duties, salary basis, discretion/independent judgment
- 121-page discovery response to 92+ document requests
Governing Authorities
Defense Record Built From Fragments
This matter description is for illustrative purposes only. Details have been generalized to protect client confidentiality. Prior results do not guarantee a similar outcome.