(a)
In General.
(1) Number.
Unless otherwise stipulated or
ordered by the court, a party may serve on any
other party no more than 25 written
interrogatories, including all discrete subparts.
Leave to serve additional interrogatories may be
granted to the extent consistent with Rule 26(b)(2).
(2) Scope.
An interrogatory may relate to any
matter that may be inquired into under Rule 26(b). An interrogatory is not objectionable
merely because it asks for an opinion or
contention that relates to fact or the application
of law to fact, but the court may order that the
interrogatory need not be answered until
designated discovery is complete, or until a
pretrial conference or some other time.
(b)
Answers and Objections.
(1) Responding Party.
The interrogatories must
be answered:
(A) by the party to whom they are directed; or
(B) if that party is a public or private
corporation, a partnership, an association,
or a governmental agency, by any officer or
agent, who must furnish the information
available to the party.
(2) Time to Respond.
The responding party must
serve its answers and any objections within 30
days after being served with the interrogatories.
A shorter or longer time may be stipulated to
under Rule
29 or be ordered by the court.
(3) Answering Each Interrogatory.
Each
interrogatory must, to the extent it is not
objected to, be answered separately and fully in
writing under oath.
(4) Objections.
The grounds for objecting to an
interrogatory must be stated with specificity.
Any ground not stated in a timely objection is
waived unless the court, for good cause, excuses
the failure.
(5) Signature.
The person who makes the answers
must sign them, and the attorney who objects
must sign any objections.
(c)
Use.
An answer to an interrogatory may be used to
the extent allowed by the Federal Rules of Evidence.
(d)
Option to Produce Business Records.
If the
answer to an interrogatory may be determined by
examining, auditing, compiling, abstracting, or
summarizing a party's business records (including
electronically stored information), and if the burden
of deriving or ascertaining the answer will be
substantially the same for either party, the
responding party may answer by:
(1) specifying the records that must be reviewed, in
sufficient detail to enable the interrogating party
to locate and identify them as readily as the
responding party could; and
(2) giving the interrogating party a reasonable
opportunity to examine and audit the records
and to make copies, compilations, abstracts, or
summaries.