Legal Definitions - fishing expedition

Definition: Fishing expedition refers to someone overly investigating or demanding information from an individual or organization. In law, the term is most used to describe using the discovery phase of a lawsuit to demand too much information based on hunches and accusations. Discovery allows parties to demand a very large amount of information from one another that can be sensitive information, and these tools could be very destructive if unchecked. Varying by jurisdiction, courts have procedures in place for parties to challenge unruly discovery requests from opposing parties.

Example 1: A journalist is investigating a politician and sends a long list of questions to their office, including questions about their personal life and finances. The journalist is accused of going on a fishing expedition because the questions are not directly related to the politician's job or any specific allegations.

Example 2: In a lawsuit, one party requests all emails and documents from the other party for the past 10 years, even though the lawsuit only concerns events from the past year. The requesting party is accused of going on a fishing expedition because they are asking for too much information that is not relevant to the case.

These examples illustrate how someone can go on a fishing expedition by demanding too much information that is not directly related to their investigation or case. This can be harmful because it can invade someone's privacy or cause unnecessary stress and expense. Courts have procedures in place to prevent fishing expeditions and ensure that discovery requests are reasonable and relevant.