Legal Question in Personal Injury in California

You don't. Special Interrogatories are, by definition, specific to the case. The standard civil form interrogatories have a lot of PI questions that will get you started.

Respectfully disagree with Mr. McCormick. The best way to find special interrogatories suitable for use BY A COMPETENT PLAINTIFF'S ATTORNEY would be to search the civil index at the occourts.org web site, or PACER, for cases in which your opponent (the lawyer on the other side is involved. In all probability one side or the other filed a Motion to Compel which would contain one party's interrogatories, and you could crib from those. Another way would be to go to the law library and look up a book called California Interrogatories. This response should not be construed as my endorsement or approval of the fact that you are attempting a personal injury lawsuit without an attorney, which you do not have.

There are books in the law library that contain special interrogatories you can use. However preparation of special interrogatories is part of the talent an experienced lawyer should have because it is part of the discovery plan the lawyer has to have to win the case. It isn't just sending a bunch of questions just to waste the other opposing side's time. If you do that you will get worthless information and when you get unresponsive answers and try to compel responsive answers the judge will not take it seriously. You will also get a bunch of interrogatories from the other side in retaliation. Therefore, you need to come up with a limited number of important questions and insist that the answers be responsive and not evasive. Generally you are limited to 35 special interrogatories without having to justify more special interrogatories. That amount should be enough in the great majority of cases. The type of information you can get by interrogatories is limited to specific facts. There are other forms of discovery such as depositions and requests for admissions or production of documents that may be more effective depending on what you want to accomplish. If this sounds complicated that is because it is and that is why you need a lawyer experienced in personal injury litigation.