Interrogatories
Written questions one party serves on another during discovery, answered in writing and, for most answers, under oath. In Texas they are governed by Tex. R. Civ. P. 197, answers are due 30 days after service, and the number allowed depends on the case's discovery level under Rule 190.
Texas interrogatories are written questions served on another party under Tex. R. Civ. P. 197 and answered within 30 days. A party may serve 25 on each other party in a Level 2 case and 15 in a Level 1 case, not counting questions that only identify or authenticate documents (Rule 190).
Interrogatories go only to parties. Rule 197 lets a party serve them on another party, and the answers can be used only against the party that gave them (Tex. R. Civ. P. 197.3). They may cover any matter within the scope of discovery except testifying-expert matters, which Rule 195 handles separately (Rule 197.1).
The last day to serve them is 30 days before the discovery period ends (Rule 197.1). In a Level 2 case outside the Family Code, that period starts when initial disclosures are first due and ends at the earlier of 30 days before trial or nine months after that date (Rule 190.3(b)(1)).
- Governing rule
- Tex. R. Civ. P. 197
- Response due
- 30 days after service (Rule 197.2(a))
- Limit
- 25 in Level 2, 15 in Level 1; each discrete subpart counts (Rules 190.2(b)(3), 190.3(b)(3))
- Last day to serve
- 30 days before the discovery period ends (Rule 197.1)
- Who signs
- The party, under oath, with listed exceptions (Rule 197.2(d))
What an interrogatory may ask
The scope is the general scope of discovery: any matter that is not privileged and is relevant to the subject matter of the case. Inadmissibility at trial is no ground for objection if the information appears reasonably calculated to lead to admissible evidence (Rule 192.3(a)).
Contention interrogatories are allowed within limits. One may ask whether a party makes a specific legal or factual contention, and may ask for the legal theories and a general description of the factual bases for a claim or defense. It may not require the responding party to marshal all its available proof or the proof it intends to offer at trial (Rule 197.1).
Answering from business records
When the answer can be derived from the responding party's business records, or a compilation of them, and the burden of finding it is substantially the same for both sides, the party may answer by specifying the records (Rule 197.2(c)). The records must be identified in enough detail for the requesting party to find them as readily as the responding party could, and a reasonable time and place for inspection must be stated.
Verification
The responding party itself signs the answers under oath. The rule displaces Rule 14, which otherwise lets a party's agent or attorney make its affidavits. Three categories are exempt from the oath: answers about persons with knowledge of relevant facts, trial witnesses, and legal contentions. A party relying on information from other people may say so (Rule 197.2(d)). The comment to Rule 197 treats a missing signature or verification as a formal defect, one that impairs the answers only if the party refuses to fix it after the defect is pointed out.
Supplementing answers, and the cost of not doing it
An answer that was incomplete or incorrect when made, or has since become so, must be amended or supplemented reasonably promptly. A supplement served less than 30 days before trial is presumed late (Rule 193.5). A party that fails to answer or supplement in time may not introduce the undisclosed information, or call a witness it did not timely identify (other than a named party), unless the court finds good cause or no unfair surprise or prejudice (Rule 193.6(a)).
Failing to serve answers at all lets the requesting party move to compel or seek sanctions directly, without first obtaining an order (Rule 215.1(b)(3)). After notice and hearing, the court's options include striking pleadings, dismissal and default judgment (Rule 215.2(b)(5)).
What a complete Texas response contains
- Each answer, preceded by the interrogatory it responds to (Rule 193.1).
- A complete answer based on all information reasonably available to the party or its attorney when the response is made (Rule 193.1).
- Any objection, stating its specific legal or factual basis and how far the party is refusing to comply (Rule 193.2(a)).
- For privileged information, a withholding statement identifying the request and the privilege asserted, in place of an objection (Rules 193.2(f), 193.3(a)).
- The party's verification under oath for the answers that require it (Rule 197.2(d)).
Can you refuse to answer interrogatories in Texas?
Only through a proper objection, a privilege assertion or a motion for protective order, each made within the 30-day response period. An objection needs a good-faith factual and legal basis, and the party must still answer whatever part of the interrogatory it has not objected to (Rule 193.2(b)-(c)). Simply not answering lets the other side move to compel or seek sanctions without first getting an order (Rule 215.1(b)(3)).
What objections can be made to interrogatories in Texas?
Any objection with a good-faith legal and factual basis, stated specifically (Rule 193.2(a), (c)). Grounds that come straight from the rules include matters outside the scope of discovery (Rule 192.3), interrogatories beyond the numerical limit for the case's level (Rule 190), and requests to marshal all of a party's proof (Rule 197.1). Late objections, and objections buried among numerous unfounded ones, are waived unless the court excuses the waiver for good cause (Rule 193.2(e)).
What are the disadvantages of interrogatories?
The main drawbacks are limits written into the rules. The count is capped, and every discrete subpart counts as a separate interrogatory (Rules 190.2(b)(3), 190.3(b)(3)). They reach only parties, and the answers can be used only against the party that gave them (Rule 197.3). Contention interrogatories cannot force the other side to lay out all of its trial proof (Rule 197.1), and a party may answer some questions by pointing to its business records (Rule 197.2(c)).
How do Texas interrogatories differ from the federal rules?
The numbers and the counting differ. Federal Rule 33 allows 25 interrogatories including all discrete subparts unless the court orders otherwise, with answers due in 30 days (Fed. R. Civ. P. 33(a)-(b)). Texas sets 25 in Level 2 and 15 in Level 1 and excludes questions that only ask a party to identify or authenticate documents (Tex. R. Civ. P. 190.2-190.3). Texas also exempts answers about witnesses and legal contentions from the oath (Rule 197.2(d)).
In a commercial case the interrogatories that matter often ask about people, documents and numbers: who negotiated the contract, where the records are kept, how a damages figure was built. Most of the answers are sworn, and they keep working after they are served. They must be amended when they become incomplete or incorrect, and a witness left out of them can be excluded at trial (Rules 193.5, 193.6).
- Answers and any objections are due 30 days after service (Rules 197.2(a), 193.2(a)); an objection not made in that time is waived unless the court excuses it for good cause (Rule 193.2(e)).
- The limit for the case's discovery level matters early, since each discrete subpart counts as a separate interrogatory (Rule 190).
- Privileged information is withheld with a withholding statement under Rule 193.3, and a motion for protective order must be filed within the time for response (Rule 192.6(a)).
- A Texas lawyer who handles civil litigation can review the requests and the response deadline.