Practice Tips and Preliminary Considerations

• Author: Kevin R. Culhane
• Pages: 79-107

1-79

Chapter 1

Practice Tips and Preliminary

Considerations

§100 Introduction

§110 Enforcing Interrogatory Discovery

§120 Use of Interrogatory Responses at Trial

§100 Introduction

§101 Discovery Practice Tips

§101.1 Limitations on Interrogatory Discovery

§101.2 Chart: State-by-State Discovery Limitations

§101.3 Interrogatories or Deposition First?

§102 Definitions

§110 Enforcing Interrogatory Discovery

§111 Responding to Interrogatories

§111.1 Response by Answer

§111.2 Response by Objection

§111.3 Answering Interrogatories by Supplying Records

§111.4 Extension of Time in Which to Respond

§111.4.1 Sample: Letter Confirming an Extension of Time in Which to Respond to

Interrogatories

§112 Meet and Confer Requirements

§112.1 Sample: Compliance With Meet and Confer Requirement

§113 Sample: Motion to Compel Answers

§114 Compelling Further Responses to Interrogatories

§114.1 Sample: Motion to Compel Further Responses

§115 Compelling Further Responses to Interrogatories – Contention Interrogatories

§115.1 Sample: Motion to Compel Further Responses to Contention Interrogatories

§120 Use of Interrogatory Responses at Trial

§121 Use by Propounding Party Against Responding Party

§122 Use by Responding Party Against Propounding Party

§123 Use by Third Parties Against Responding Party

§124 Use by Third Party Against Propounder

§125 Use by Propounder Against Third Party

§126 Using Interrogatory Answers for Evidentiary Preclusion

§127 Factually Devoid Interrogatory Responses as Basis for Summary Judgment

§100 Model InterrogatorIes 1-80

§100 Introduction

Conducting discovery in tort cases can be frustrating and time consuming. Limitations on available time and

resources often require the attorney to carefully focus his or her discovery efforts, and interrogatories prepared on an

ad hoc basis often lack sufficient precision to be useful. The responses to such interrogatories may shed little light on

the issues involved in a case and may be of marginal value in evaluating a case for settlement.

This book was designed to help you formulate a discovery plan and execute that plan with precisely focused

interrogatories. The interrogatories are organized to deal with recurring situations and are carefully tailored to match

specific legal claims and defenses.

This first three chapters of this book contain preliminary fact and investigative questions which may be utilized in

any tort case. Additionally, each chapter sets forth the elements of the cause of action and potential defenses so that

your interrogatory discovery can be precisely structured to fit the facts of your case.

Each interrogatory subject includes explanatory text and practice tips to enable you to construct precise, probing,

and winning discovery. The interrogatories were designed to produce relevant evidence and to avoid objections, hence

maximizing your productivity and discovery success. In fact, you will find that the format of Model InterrogatorIes

is such that your staff can prepare comprehensive interrogatory sets with relatively minor supervision on your part.

This book cannot conduct your interrogatory discovery for you. However, it does set forth specifically tailored

questions which you may use in constructing your interrogatory sets, and which may be supplemented or modified

to fit the facts of your particular case. If you use these interrogatories to guide your format and substantive coverage,

you will find that you acquire more information with less effort and expense. This in turn will greatly facilitate your

case preparation and maximize your client’s potential recovery.

§101 Discovery Practice Tips

§101.1 Limitations on Interrogatory Discovery

The interrogatories set forth in the following chapters have been carefully selected from numerous case files and

edited for focus, format and substantive coverage. In many cases, it is both necessary and desirable that you customize

and/or supplement these interrogatories so that your interrogatory discovery is precisely tailored to the facts of your

case. In addition, many states impose limits on the number of interrogatories that may be utilized and also on the use

of subparts. You should carefully review your local code to determine whether such limitations apply to your inter-

rogatory discovery, and the chart that follows sets forth the limitations imposed on a state-by-state basis. See §101.2.

The table that follows also sets forth state by state restrictions for you to consult as you assemble your interrogatory

sets. The rules of various jurisdictions of course differ, and you may be subject to local rules dealing with your inter-

rogatory discovery. With this caveat, we are confident that the linguistic precision and broad substantive coverage of

the interrogatories that follow will greatly facilitate your discovery efforts.