Interrogatories

As you may already know, interrogatories are a part of the discovery process of your personal injury lawsuit. As you go through the discovery process, you might want to send an interrogatory to the defense counsel. Or, you might get an interrogatory from the defense. In these situations, you need to know what to do. This page will talk about interrogatories to help you through this process. For more help with your individual case, it is a good idea to contact a personal injury lawyer.

What Is An Interrogatory?

Interrogatories are written statements passed back and forth between the two parties involved in the personal injury case. Interrogatories are generally requests or questions that one party asks of the other one. During the discovery period, both parties exchange facts and information about the case. Interrogatories work as a way to exchange this information. They make sure that both parties have what they need to proceed with the case. Interrogatories are less formal types of documentation. They don’t have to be filed with the court. Instead, they can go directly between the two parties. This makes communication easier and faster. It can speed up the discovery period as well.

Sending Interrogatories

You can’t send or get endless interrogatories. There is a limit to the amount of interrogatories that one party can send to another. In federal courts, the limit of interrogatories is 25. State courts will differ slightly from this number, so it is best to talk to your lawyer about the laws in Connecticut. Because of this limit, it is important to make your interrogatories count. Make sure that you ask for as much information as possible in one interrogatory. If new things come up later on in the case, you can send more, but make sure that you do not go over the limit.

If you want to send an interrogatory to the defense, you should know a few things about writing these. You will write questions in the interrogatory. But, it is not standard to include a question mark. Instead, you should write the questions as statements. Interrogatories can vary depending on the type of case you are involved in. Because of this, you should draft specific interrogatories for your situation with the help of a lawyer.

Responding To Interrogatories

If your case is being tried in a federal court, you will have 30 days to respond to an interrogatory. Most state courts also follow the 30 day response time. You and your attorney have to sign an oath when you respond to the interrogatory. This oath attests to the truthfulness of the statements in the document. Some states ask that interrogatories are notarized by a public notary before they are sent to the other party. You can ask your lawyer about Connecticut’s laws regarding public notarization.

There are some situation in which you can object to an interrogatory sent to you. You can object if the interrogatory is confusing. You can also object if it is too broad or if it asks for evidence that is inadmissible.

For more information on interrogatories, contact our office.