Usually, the landlord will not submit discovery to you unless you first send it to him. The reason is that discovery is an additional expense, and can result in a dely of the trial, which the landlord does not want. However, if you submit discovery to him, and his lawyer tells him that this will cost at last another $1,000 or so to answer, the landlord wants to get even, and make you go through that expense, too.

Typically, the discovery submitted by the landlord's lawyer is lame. They don't know what to ask, or how to ask for it, and it's loaded with mistakes. Still, you have to respond in some way, and how you do in a given case requires some attorney evaluation of the given question and range of responses, to be discussed with you.

If the landlord takes your deposition, you should have some special preparation for that, so that you're comfortable with the process, aware of how to answer, and not at all intimidated by what they hope would be a terrifying experience. You'll have fun, instead, and maybe drive them crazy.