Contention Interrogatories

The liberal rules of discovery are designed to enable the parties to obtain the fullest possible knowledge of the issues and facts before a personal injury trial. Contention Interrogatories are little used but are a powerful discovery tool used to discover the facts supporting the defendant's contentions in the case. Contention interrogatories typically ask defendants' lawyers (actually either party, but we are writing for plaintiffs' personal injury lawyers) to state exactly what they contend, all of the facts on which the defense lawyer bases his contention, and the evidence on which the defense bases his contentions. They may also request, in Maryland and under the federal rules, the legal or theoretical basis for a contention, and/or an explanation of how the law applies to facts on which defendant's lawyer has based any of his claims or defenses. In other words, defendants' lawyers are required to spell out the legal basis for their defense.

Defendants' personal injury lawyers regularly object to contention interrogatories because, understandably, they would rather not box themselves into positions from which they cannot recover. Some courts have allowed parties to delay answering contention interrogatories until near the end of the discovery period. This is not unreasonable but discovery obligations are ongoing and you can bet in 99% of the cases, the defense attorney is going to let those obligations pass once the discovery deadline passes. So you need to be sure that it is an issue you remain on top of or it will quickly fall from everyone's radar. Moreover, if you do allow the defense lawyer additional time to answer contention interrogatories, you need to make sure that you either file a motion before the deadline for dispute resolution or have defense counsel agree to a provisional "I don't know" answer.

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