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In this lesson, you will learn ways to respond to discovery, what could potentially happen if you choose not to respond, and how to handle each type of request for discovery you receive.
Ways to respond to a discovery request
- NON-RESPONSE – Non-responses can be deemed admitted by the court. Non-responses to other discovery requests can result in a Motion to Compel.
- ANSWER OR PRODUCE – Respond to each request truthfully, completely, and in a timely manner. You will have 30 days to respond to the request.
Responding to requests
- ADMISSIONS – You may admit, deny, or choose to neither admit nor deny the statement.
- PRODUCTION – Either produce the document, state that you don’t have it, or respond with an objection.
Transcript
There are three main ways you can respond.
First, you can have no response. That is don\’t respond at all. Just ignore it and see what happens. Well, this is not recommended.
If you decide not to respond, you want to consider the consequences carefully. A non-response to a request for admissions may end up with those admissions or those those statements being deemed admitted by the court, and you may never have a chance to retract any of those statements.
Non-responses to other discovery may result in a motion to compel.
Second option is to answer each request as it\’s asked. If you answer or respond, you want to do so truthfully, appropriately, and in a timely manner.
You\’ll have a limited time to prepare a written response, usually about thirty days.
So identifying which question you\’re answering by numbering your answers to correspond with questions as they\’re written.
In your request for admissions, when you\’re responding to that, it\’s okay to say if it\’s appropriate that you neither admit nor deny the statement.
When you\’re responding to a request for production, you should either produce the thing requested, such as a document, or you should respond with a statement that the document is not in your possession, or you can respond with an objection. In most instances, you don\’t need to actually file your written responses with the court, just as the request themselves don\’t need to be filed. You don\’t need to file your responses.
You simply mail your the original of your responses to the other side. You may also file in the court a notice of serving your response to the request.
Now responding to depositions is different from responding to the other written discovery. You are on stage, and you don\’t have a lot of time to answer. So try to consider in advance what your opponent may want to ask you about.
Be sure to stay relaxed during the deposition. Make sure that you answer questions fully and truthfully. But you don\’t get the questions beforehand. So do the best you can at a deposition.
Now a third way of responding to discovery is to object to it. If you find questions or requests objectionable, by all means object.