Can you ignore interrogatories?
Asked by: Zita Orn | Last update: September 17, 2025Score: 4.8/5 (17 votes)
Since they can be so overwhelming, you may desire to simply ignore the interrogatories, which you are served. However, this is not an option. You must respond to these interrogatories by a specific date or else the opposing side can request that the judge order you to do so.
Do I have to answer all interrogatories?
You must answer the questions or file objections to certain questions or the entire set of interrogatories. For example, you might not want to answer a question because it contains incorrect information like asking you to state who treated your broken leg, but you did not break your leg.
What happens if a party does not respond to interrogatories?
If the other person does not respond, or their response is still incomplete, you can ask the court to order them to respond. You have 45 days from the service of the most recent responses to ask the court to make an order requiring an answer.
Can I refuse to answer discovery questions?
The answer to your question is yes. You can refuse to answer the question, but please keep in mind that if you don't answer the question, then the other party can request a subpoena to have a judge force you to answer.
How do I deny interrogatories?
You need to be clear in your objections or risk waving them. Federal Rule 33(b)(4) emphasizes that the “grounds for objecting to an interrogatory must be stated with specificity. Any ground not stated in a timely objection is waived unless the court, for good cause, excuses the failure.”
What Do I Have to Answer Interrogatory Questions?
What happens if you ignore interrogatories?
If you still fail to answer the interrogatories, the judge can strike your pleadings or charge you with a fine.
Can I object to interrogatories?
All interrogatories must be relevant to the issues in the case. If a request is not likely to lead to the discovery of relevant, admissible evidence, you may object.
How do I get out of answering interrogatories?
However, you can object to interrogatories that call for legal conclusions. You can also object to questions if they are not at all related to the court case. To object, you need to write out the reasons for the objection instead of answering the question.
What is the point of interrogatories?
Usually, lawyers use interrogatories to obtain detailed information about persons, corporations, facts, witnesses, and identity and locations of records and documents. Court rules usually limit the number of questions included in an interrogatory.
What happens if you don't provide discovery?
The other party might not respond, or s/he could file a “motion to compel discovery.” A motion to compel discovery is a written request to the judge in which the party seeking discovery asks the judge to issue an order requiring that the other party turns over the requested documents by a certain date or face certain ...
What happens if you lie on interrogatories?
The Dangers of Lying on Interrogatories
When the truth is discovered, the judge may impose a fine, assign additional litigation costs, or dismiss the case entirely if it was brought by the party who provided false information.
What happens after interrogatories are answered?
What Happens Once You Receive an Interrogatory? All of the questions must be responded to in writing and it must be done under oath. Often, once you answer the questions, the other side will use the answers to gather more information.
What is an insufficient answer to interrogatories?
(a) Each answer in a response to interrogatories shall be as complete and straightforward as the information reasonably available to the responding party permits. (b) If an interrogatory cannot be answered completely, it shall be answered to the extent possible.
Can interrogatories be used as evidence?
Interrogatories and depositions allow attorneys to gather information and question potential witnesses. They both result in documents that can be introduced as evidence and to impeach witnesses during trial.
Who signs the answers to the interrogatories?
(2) The answers are to be signed by the person making them, and the objections signed by the attorney making them. (3) The party upon whom the interrogatories have been served shall serve a copy of the answers, and objections if any, within 30 days after the service of the interrogatories.
Are interrogatories hearsay?
Answering Each Interrogatory
They can be used at the summary judgment stage, in pretrial motions and hearings, and/or at trial. Answers to interrogatories are signed under oath, and are not considered hearsay, because they constitute a statement by the party opponent.
Are interrogatories mandatory?
Rule 33 (b), Federal Rules of Civil Procedure , requires the respondent to answer an interrogatory separately and fully in writing and under oath, unless the respondent objects, in which event the party objecting shall state with specificity the reasons for objection and shall answer to the extent the interrogatory is ...
Do you answer or respond to interrogatories?
You must mail the original verification page with the interrogatories back to the other side. Your answers to the interrogatories should usually be short, clear, and direct and should answer only the question that is being asked. This is not the time to set out your entire case or defense to the other side.
Who may interrogatories be asked to?
Interrogatories are a discovery device used by a party, usually a Defendant, to enable the individual to learn the facts that are the basis for, or support, a pleading with which he or she has been served by the opposing party.
Why are interrogatories important?
Interrogatories can also serve very specific functions, such as establishing the extent of a defendant's contacts with a forum for jurisdictional purposes, obtaining information to be used in drafting an amended pleading, verifying known facts, identifying expert witnesses, establishing the dates for a poten- tial ...
Are answers to interrogatories admissible at trial?
Whether to admit interrogatory answers is within the discretion of the trial court, just as with any other evidence, and a trial court's refusal to admit such evidence will only be reversed upon a showing of manifest abuse of that discretion.
Do interrogatories need to be verified?
Under Rule 33, answers to interrogatories must be verified and must be signed by the person answering the interrogatory, not only by the party's attorney. “It has been stated that unsigned and unverified answers to interrogatories do not qualify as answers under Fed. R. Civ.
Are interrogatories privileged?
A: In California, a privilege log is typically not required when responding to interrogatories, as opposed to requests for production of documents. This is because interrogatories seek information, not the production of privileged documents.
Can you amend answers to interrogatories?
2030.310. (a) Without leave of court, a party may serve an amended answer to any interrogatory that contains information subsequently discovered, inadvertently omitted, or mistakenly stated in the initial interrogatory.
How to respond to contention interrogatories?
Responses to interrogatories should be formatted like court filings, with the case and court information, and include the name of the responding party, the propounding party, and the set number, as directed by Cal. Code Civ. Proc. § 2030.210(b) and Cal.