Things You Must Know about Interrogatories
You actually don't know what interrogatories are, unless you've been a party to a lawsuit before. It is not a live interrogation, first of all. Interrogatories are written questions that you have to answer, under oath, in writing. A personal injury lawyer from OKC will direct you through the method of responding to interrogatories.
At the discovery stage of a case, before trial, interrogatories occur. You will still need to have papers and get your evidence taken. You are sworn in by the court reporter, and then the lawyers ask you questions. A transcript of what everyone said is being generated by the court reporter. Interrogatories are not carried out in person.
The aim of interrogatories is to learn a great deal of general information in a lawsuit about a group.
For instance, in a personal injury case about a car accident, the defendant may give you questionnaires asking you to reveal items like:
Where you're staying
Where you work
The injury info
What were the injuries?
Which physicians and hospitals have treated your wounds
Some lingering problems from the injuries you have
In the subjects they might inquire about in interrogatories, a party in a case gets large leeway. Here are three things you need to know about interrogations:
You must answer the questions or object to the questionnaires
The other side can go to court and ask the judge to order you to respond to the interrogatories by a particular date if you disregard the interrogatories. The honorable judge can impose a monetary fine against you if you still do not answer the interrogatories. When the pleadings are made by the judge, it typically indicates that the other side will prevail.
Your personal injury lawyer may object to the interrogations. A common explanation for objections is that they are unduly burdensome for the interrogatories. For instance, if, with 500 questions and several sub-parts to those questions, the defense attorney sends you interrogatories, those interrogatories are probably unduly burdensome.
You get to give questionnaires to the other side. Lawyers may gain useful information from interrogatories that they need to prepare for trial. Any party to a case gets to use questionnaires.
It is possible to use your interrogatory responses against you at trial
You're going to have to sign the final version of your answers to the interrogation and promise that you've told the truth. Sometimes people believe that since they are not in a courtroom, they should "bend" the facts. Doing so is an error.
During the tribunal, the other side will use the interrogatory responses to impeach you. After you get impeached, the judge will have a tough time believing what you say. The judge is even willing to find you guilty of impeachment.
You have a deadline for interrogatory answers
You usually have around a month to respond to the questionnaires. Your reaction may be to respond or object to the questions. Objections must be served within the same period of time as replies to the other side.
If you object to any questions on time, you do not have to answer them until your objections are determined by a judge. If you only object to specific questions, you must reply by the deadline to all the other questions.
At The West Law Firm in OKC, you can contact us for a personal injury lawyer. Schedule an appointment for other legal aids for example wrongful death, nursing home abuse and more.
** Disclaimer: The above article does not imply a relationship between attorney and client, nor is it legal advice.