Page 38 - Anatomy of a Medical Malpractice Lawsuit

SVMIC Anatomy of a Medical Malpractice Lawsuit

Interrogatories

Interrogatories are written questions to be answered under

oath by the party upon whom they are served. Interrogatories

can be served at any stage of the litigation including
simultaneously with the service of process. Under the rules, the

party receiving the interrogatories has a specified time within
which to respond (usually 30 days although, this can vary). As

with all of the discovery discussed herein, if a party receiving

the interrogatories fails or refuses to cooperate, the court can
compel compliance and issue sanctions against that party.

Responding to written discovery is procedurally the same as

responding to the complaint. The physician will work with his
or her defense attorney to provide answers to the

interrogatories. Once the physician has provided the
information, the defense attorney will put the responses into

final written form in a document called the answers to

interrogatories. If there are any legal objections to be made
because a question is improper, the defense attorney will make

those objections when responding.

Interrogatory questions are often broad by design. They are
intended to elicit general, narrative responses. The goal of the

attorney through discovery is to obtain large amounts of

information at the beginning and then start to narrow his or
her questions as the litigation progresses to focus on certain

aspects of the case. The responses to the interrogatories (and
requests to produce) help the attorney to be better prepared

for the deposition of the opposing party when that time comes.

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