Interrogatory Rule Number 33 parties have 30 days to answer an interrogatory written questions answered in writing; under oath; helpful

ul to get background info; PARTIES ONLY

Oral Deposition: Rule 30 and 32 Recorded by Ct Reporter; officer of the ct. present, sworn under oath (26g), attorneys can object no judge/jury Any parties that you can subpoena Parties must come; but nonparties are not required to show up unless they are subpoenaed General rule is one day (for 7 hours) Rule 30(d) They can refuse to answer a question (and potentially face sanctions); or object

Request for Admission Rule 36 requires you to

admit or deny any discoverable manner (if they fail to deny they have admitted); anything that you dont expressly deny is considered admitted (but the court can overrule this)

Physical/ Mental Exam Rule 35 must have a court order

Request for Production Rule 34 - written request that someone give you access to something (location, electronic info, etc)

From whom is information sought?

Only Parties

Only a party or someone within the partys legal control/custody (ie partys child or pet; does not include employees)

34(c) info can be from non-parties (but they should be subpeana-ed

Limits on number or frequency of requests? What if responsible party believes that discovery should not be provided? Who bears cost of production?

Yes 33(a)(1): 25 including all sub questions 33(a)(4) you can object

No limit

You can admit, deny, or object

The person responding There are very few costs (this is good for the involved profounder; not good for the answer-er) What are the benefits Not expensive for the It can shorten the trial, and the problems with person asking the and get major issues this form of questions slightly less resolved discovery? valuable now that there is disclosure; constrained to a certain number of questions no follow-up for poorly asked questions Standard for discovery 26(b)(1) can discover anything relevant to a claim or defense; you can discover things that would not be admissible at trial; it just has to be reasonably calculated to lead to admissible evidence (ie hearsay this is how Bill Clinton got screwed, not literally, that was done by Monica) Privilege matter is not discoverable: - confidential information; can be waived Attorney/client privilege; spousal communications; priest/rabbi Work product 26(b)(3) trial preparation materials prepared in anticipation of litigation (does not apply to routine stuff); is protected from discovery; can be overridden (in part or in full) if you show substantial need and product/materials are not otherwise available, protection of mental opinions, conclusions, opinions and legal theories is absolute. Not limited to just attorney work product (aka can also be private investigator)