During litigation, your attorney is likely going to request that you provide verified discovery responses.  If you have already commenced litigation, you might already have been asked to execute (sign) a verification when completing your verification.  But, what is a verification?  What are the risks of verifying a document that contains false information?

What is a Verification?

During litigation, you will likely be required to prepare responses to written discovery (written questions about your claims and the case).  These responses help establish your case.  You will most likely be requested to execute a verification when completing your discovery responses so that you may provide verified responses.  But what is a verification?

A verification is defined as a formal declaration made in the presence of an authorized officer, such as a notary public, or under oath but not in the presence of such an officer, whereby one swears to the truth of the statement sin the document.  Bryan A. Garner, Black’s Law Dictionary, s.v. “verification” (12th ed. 2024).  To verify means to prove to be true or to confirm or establish the truth or truthfulness of a document.  Id.  The likely objective of a verification is to convey the responding party’s personal knowledge as to the matters stated in the attendant discovery responses, and to insure good faith in the averments or statements of the responding party.

The California Code of Civil Procedure section 2030.250 requires verifications to be signed, “under oath…”. California Code of Civil Procedure § 2030.250.

Your lawyer will attach your executed verification – signed under penalty of perjury – to your discovery responses so that the legal world trusts your discovery responses are made in good faith and that the statements therein are true, to the best of your knowledge. Think of your signature as your personal promise: “I’ve read these answers, and to the best of my knowledge, they are true and complete.”

What Does Penalty of Perjury Mean?

Perjury is a crime.  The crime of perjury is defined as a false statement made, “under penalty of perjury.”  California Penal Code § 118(a) (“[E]very person who…declares,…or certifies under penalty of perjury… and willfully states as true any material matter which he or she knows to be false, is guilty of perjury.”).  Therefore, when executing a verification it is important to ensure that your statements are true and correct.  If you execute a verification containing untrue statements, you will not only hurt yourself – by submitting a sworn statement containing falsehoods, you severely undermine your case – but you also will commit crime: The crime of perjury.