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.
The party to whom the interrogatories are directed shall serve the answers and any objections within 30 days after the service of the interrogatories, except that a defendant may serve answers or objections within 45 days after service of the process and initial pleading upon that defendant.
Benefits of Using Interrogatories Since they are in written form, they eliminate the need for travel or in-person meetings, saving both time and expenses. Obtain Specific Details: Attorneys carefully craft interrogatories to elicit detailed information that may be difficult to obtain through other means.
Fact-Finding: Interrogatories help attorneys obtain critical information from the opposing party. For example, in a car accident case, the plaintiff's attorney might ask the defendant to describe their version of the incident, list any witnesses, or detail the injuries they claim to have suffered.
Each interrogatory must be answered separately and fully in writing under oath unless it is objected to, in which event the grounds for objection must be stated and signed by the attorney making it.
Ask for a court order 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.
When a party to a civil case needs to get information from the other side, she can serve the other side with written requests called “discovery requests.” These requests might include: Interrogatories, which are written questions about things that are relevant or important to the case. (NRCP 33; JCRCP 33)
(1) Interrogatories must be served on the party to whom the interrogatories are directed and copies must be served on all other parties. (2) A certificate of service of the interrogatories must be filed, giving the date of service and the name of the party to whom they were directed.
An interrogatory is a request for information, in the form of standard questions, that must be answered in writing and then notarized. In Florida, there are two types of interrogatories used in family law proceedings.
Parties must serve responses to interrogatories on the requesting party. Responses must not be filed with the court unless they are admitted into evidence by the court and are in compliance with Florida Rule of General Practice and Judicial Administration 2.425.