Objections and Responses to Interrogatories
(CA)

Summary

This template illustrates objections and responses to interrogatories that may be used in a California superior court civil action. It contains practical guidance, drafting notes, and optional paragraphs. Interrogatories are a frequently-used discovery device, consisting of written questions propounded by one party to another. Interrogatories may relate to any matter, not privileged, relevant to the action or to a motion in the action. See Cal. Code Civ. Proc. §§ 2017.010, 2030.010(a). As the responding party, you must either answer the interrogatory under oath or provide a specific objection. See Cal. Code Civ. Proc. §§ 2030.210(a), 2030.240(b). For more on responding to interrogatories, see Interrogatories: Responding to Interrogatories (CA). The answers to interrogatories are admissions of a party and are admissible at trial to the extent permitted by the rules of evidence. See Cal. Code Civ. Proc. § 2030.410; see also Cal. Evid. Code § 1220 (party admissions as exception to hearsay rule). You must serve written objections and/or responses within 30 days of being served with interrogatories. Cal. Code Civ. Proc. § 2030.260(a). The responding party has a duty to provide information reasonably available to the client and counsel in response to the interrogatory. See Cal. Code Civ. Proc. § 2030.220(a). A responding party has the following options in responding to interrogatories: • Answer the interrogatory without objection • Object and provide no answer • Object to all or part of the interrogatory, but answer "subject to the objection • State that the responding party lacks personal knowledge to respond to all or part of the interrogatory and has made a reasonable and good faith effort to obtain the information, then answer accordingly • State that the responding party lacks personal knowledge to respond to all or part of the interrogatory and that the information is equally available to the propounding party and provide no further answer • Identify documents containing the requested information See Cal. Code Civ. Proc. §§ 2030.210(a), 2030.220, 2030.230, 2030.240. Each of these types of responses is illustrated in this template. When the interrogatories are received, schedule a time to confer with your client or, depending on the client, prepare and forward draft answers, or forward the interrogatories to your client with guidance as to which questions they must provide information and draft answers. Give the client a deadline by which to respond, allowing sufficient time for the final responses to be prepared, reviewed, and served. In addition, forward the verification (see Verification below) to the client for signature at the outset. In order to facilitate efficient response to the interrogatories, consider requesting that the propounding party provide you with an electronic copy of the interrogatories if they have not already done so. The propounding party must provide an electronic copy within three court days after your request. Cal. Code Civ. Proc. § 2030.210(d)(1). If an electronic copy is provided, you must include the text of the request immediately before each response. Cal. Code Civ. Proc. § 2030.210(d)(6). Electronic copies may be transmitted in any format and by any method agreed on by the parties. Cal. Code Civ. Proc. § 2030.210(d)(3), (4). If the parties are unable to agree on a format or method of transmission: • Interrogatories or responses must be provided in plain text format. • Interrogatories or responses must be transmitted by email to an email address provided by the requesting party. Cal. Code Civ. Proc. § 2030.210(d)(3), (4). If you have not received an electronic copy of the interrogatories, be sure to number each response to correlate to the number of the particular interrogatory in the same sequence that appears in the set of interrogatories. Cal. Code Civ. Proc. § 2030.210(c), (d)(6). In this template, both the number and text of the interrogatory are included. If you provide your responses in paper format, the propounding party may request that you provide an electronic copy of your responses, in which case you must do so within three court days of the request. Cal. Code Civ. Proc. § 2030.210(d)(2). For a full listing of key content covering fundamental civil litigation tasks throughout a California state court litigation lifecycle, see Civil Litigation Fundamentals Resource Kit (CA). For more on interrogatories, see Interrogatories: Drafting and Serving Interrogatories (CA). For an in-depth discussion of discovery planning and scope of discovery, see Discovery Planning and Strategy (CA) and Scope of Discovery and Objections to Discovery (CA). For a discussion of moving for a protective order in response to discovery requests, see Motion for Protective Order: Making and Opposing the Motion (CA).