Legal Question in Civil Litigation in Massachusetts

Re: False Interrogatories

When you have an "incomplete" answer (and call it that to be polite, if you can grit your teeth), you need to file a motion to compel first. The judge will want the parties to work it out in the hall, to come to an agreement on the information to be supplied, but if the judge has to make orders, it will come to this: he can order the defendant to answer completely, but if the defendant claims he gave you the answer already, then you'll have "the burden" of establishing to the judge how you know that it is incomplete. The problem you're probably worried about is this: if you say, "I know Stu got fired and they didn't list him!" the response could be, "oh yeah, we'll add Stu to the list." You know a few and you suspect there are many more, so you don't want to say which ones you know and show ignorance of others. How do you solve that?

1. You "offer" that you know of SEVERAL others by name and suspect there are even more. You can give one or two examples of people they omitted but are loathe to give all you know of. 2. You issue this as a threat: "Judge, I want it on record now that if they fail to give me the complete list and I come back with more to prove it, you will dismiss their defenses and counterclaims as sanctions." (I obtained once an order to compel with just such a statement in it!)

Or simply ask the judge what s/he will do if you prove after the next round that they still haven't answered completely. 3. I forgot my third idea, sorry.

One thing to remember: any time you ask to compel discovery, you need to have ready an explanation for the judge of why you need it. It is for the purpose of determining what direction to search for more evidence of your case (reasonable likelihood of LEADING TO admissible evidence), you ought to explain why you need it, and you must be ready to show that you're not asking just for the purpose of harassing or embarassing the defendant.

You don't have a lawyer? You ARE a lawyer who doesn't usually litigate? -- Write to me at [email protected] for follow-up.