What objections can you make to interrogatories?
What objections can you make to interrogatories?
Contents hide
- 7.1 Irrelevant.
- 7.2 Privilege or Work Product Protection.
- 7.3 Overbroad.
- 7.4 Excessive Number.
- 7.5 Unduly Burdensome, Expensive, or Oppressive.
- 7.6 Vague and Ambiguous.
- 7.7 The Information is Already Known or Equally Available to the Requesting Party.
- 7.8 Speculation or Question Based on an Improper Assumption.
What can you object to in discovery?
Blanket, unsupported objections that a discovery request is “vague, overly broad, or unduly burdensome” are, by themselves, meaningless, and disregarded by the Court. A party objecting on these bases must explain the specific and particular ways in which a request is vague, overly broad, or unduly burdensome.
What is an overbroad objection?
* Overbroad and Burdensome—The showing required to sustain this objection is that the intent of the party was to create an unreasonable burden, or that burden created does not weigh equally with what requesting party is trying to obtain from it. See Mead Reinsurance Co.
What is a legal conclusion objection?
Calls for a conclusion. The question improperly asks the witness to reach a legal conclusion, which is a job reserved for the judge or jury. Calls for an opinion. Generally, only expert witnesses may render their opinions; lay witnesses must testify only regarding their observations.
How do you object to request admissions?
Proper Objections A responding party has four options: (1) admit; (2) deny; (3) admit in part and deny in part; or (4) explain why the party is unable to answer.
Can a case be dismissed during discovery?
Failing To Respond To Discovery Can Lead To A Dismissal Of Your Case With Prejudice. Interrogatories, requests for documents, and depositions can make or break your case.
What is undue burden in discovery?
Unduly burdensome requests are a misuse of the discovery process. Employing a discovery method in a manner or to an extent that causes unwarranted annoyance, embarrassment, or oppression or undue burden and expense is one of the examples of misuses of the discovery process.
What are general objections?
General objections are essentially copy/paste templated objections to discovery that could presumably apply to all requests regardless of their content. Many thought leaders agree that general objections are useless, perhaps even equivalent to not providing responses and objections at all.
What is a privilege objection?
Background. This objection applies when the opponent asks a questions the answer to which is protected by a common law or statutory “privilege”. Put simply, that term means that the witness (or someone else) has a legal privilege (or right) not to answer the questions (or to forbid someone else from answering it).
Are the mock trial objections similar to the ones in case?
Although they’re likely very similar to the ones in your case packet, be sure to check for any differences. There are two broad categories of mock trial objections: (1) objections to the form of the question and (2) objections to testimony.
Can a party object to a discovery request in Maryland?
Under the Maryland Rules, a party has the right to obtain discovery on any non-privileged matter that is relevant to the subject matter of the action. Do your best to answer each question. If you really feel that a request is objectionable, you can object for one or more of the following reasons: Overly Vague and/or Broad.
What happens if the court does not agree with my objection?
If the court does not agree with your objection, the court can order you to respond. When you are ready to serve the opposing party with discovery requests or discovery responses, you will include a document called “Notice of Service of Discovery Material.”
Can a discovery objection force you to answer a question?
But this is an adversarial process. There are times when you should not give complete answers to an interrogatory because the question is objectionable. Practically, discovery objections also allow you to avoid answering difficult questions. Under Maryland law, this onus is on the party receiving the objection to force the issue.
