Responses to requests for admission in California litigation

Responding to requests for admission in California litigation is the topic of this blog post.  

The rules governing requests for admission are found in Code of Civil Procedure sections 2033.010, et seq.

Code of Civil Procedure § 2033.210 states that, "(a) The party to whom requests for admission have been directed shall respond in writing under oath separately to each request. (b) Each response shall answer the substance of the requested admission, or set forth an objection to the particular request. (c) In the first paragraph of the response immediately below the title of the case, there shall appear the identity of the responding party, the set number, and the identity of the requesting party. (d) Each answer or objection in the response shall bear the same identifying number or letter and be in the same sequence as the corresponding request, but the text of the particular request need not be repeated."

Code of Civil Procedure § 2033.220 states that, "(a) Each answer in a response to requests for admission shall be as complete and straightforward as the information reasonably available to the responding party permits. (b) Each answer shall: (1) Admit so much of the matter involved in the request as is true, either as expressed in the request itself or as reasonably and clearly qualified by the responding party. (2) Deny so much of the matter involved in the request as is untrue. (3) Specify so much of the matter involved in the request as to the truth of which the responding party lacks sufficient information or knowledge. (c) If a responding party gives lack of information or knowledge as a reason for a failure to admit all or part of a request for admission, that party shall state in the answer that a reasonable inquiry concerning the matter in the particular request has been made, and that the information known or readily obtainable is insufficient to enable that party to admit the matter."

In responding to a request for admission a responding party should take care in framing their response. A vague response such as "unknown" will not suffice taking into account the requirements of Code of Civil Procedure § 2033.220(c) as previously shown.

There are certain format restrictions on requests for admission. No request for admission may contain subparts, or a compound, conjunctive or disjunctive question. See Code of Civil Procedure § 2033.060. This means that a request for admission cannot contain part a, b, c, etc., nor can it contain a question with more than one part, and it cannot contain the word "and" which is conjunctive, it also cannot contain the word "or" which is disjunctive. Although many requests for admission do violate these format rules any party using such a format runs the risk of the opposing party objecting on those grounds and having their objections sustained by a Judge.

Any objections to a request for admission should clearly set forth the specific ground for the objection, and if only part of the request is objectionable, the remainder of the request must be answered. See Code of Civil Procedure § 2033.230.

The responses must be verified, and must be served on the requesting party within thirty (30) days after service of the requests for admission if they were personally served, or within thirty five (35) days if the requests for admission were served by mail. Note that these time limits do NOT apply to unlawful detainer actions which are five (5) days if the requests were personally served or ten (10) days if the requests were served by mail.

Attorneys or parties to civil litigation in California who wish to purchase sample responses to requests for admission for use in an unlimited civil case can click below.

http://www.scribd.com/doc/77295620/Sample-Responses-to-Requests-for-Admission


The author of this blog post, Stan Burman, is an entrepreneur and freelance paralegal that has worked in California and Federal litigation since 1995 and has created over 300 sample legal documents for California and Federal litigation.

If you are in need of assistance with any California or Federal litigation matters, Mr. Burman is available on a freelance basis. Mr. Burman may be contacted by e-mail at DivParalgl@yahoo.com for more information. He accepts payments through PayPal which means that you can pay using most credit or debit cards. 


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