Legal Question in Landlord & Tenant Law in California

Hi again!

New questions this time!

I had the opposing attorney served with form interrogatories with my landlord as the answering party this past Monday, June 28. Coincidentally, I received the date for trial in the mail that same afternoon. Trial is set for Thursday, July 8th.

Considering that he was personally served, establishing a 5 day deadline to submit his answers, which day does his deadline fall on? Is it like tenant's deadlines, where weekends count, but not holidays? If so, then if the 5th day falls on the weekend (which it would - Saturday), then is the response due the following Monday? And does the fact the courts will observe the July 4th holiday this coming Monday somehow allow them yet one more day to respond (this is what the opposing attorney tried to tell me last night when he called to "meet & confer" regarding my cost memorandum)?

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Say they don't respond, or the answers aren't complete, and I immediately send them a letter - I read that means that they can't object to anything in the interrogatory in court, but I'm not grasping what that actually means. Could you please try to explain how that works?

Thanks again for providing your insights as well as reliable, practical advice. Your efforts are very much appreciated.


Asked on 6/30/10, 11:39 pm

1 Answer from Attorneys

When counting discovery days, unless the relevant provision says "court days" then weekends AND holidays count, BUT if the LAST day is on a weekend or holiday, the deadline moves forward or backward depending on whether the deadline is established as being "after" or "before." So if answers are due five days after service, and the fifth day is a weekend or holiday, the answers are due the following non-holiday weekday. Thus answers due this Saturday would be due 7/6. If you have a deadline like a discovery cut-off that is x-days before trial, and the deadline falls on a weekend or holiday, then the deadline kicks back to the next earlier non-holiday weekend.

As for failure to answer, the penalty for not answering is that you are barred from objecting to the questions, not the substance of the questions. Since the form interrogatories are approved by the Judicial Council, there are no legitimate objections to them anyway. So the rule only applies to custom drafted interrogatories that may raise legitimate objections of privilege, or other recognized objections to the form of the question. In no case does it have any bearing on objections to evidence in court.

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Answered on 7/01/10, 9:52 am


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