Also known as: requests to admit · request for admission · requests for admission · request to admit facts · RFA
Written by attorneys · grounded in primary & secondary sources — see below
A discovery device by which one party serves written requests on another party to admit the truth of specified matters within the scope of discovery for purposes of the pending action only. The device covers facts, the application of law to fact, opinions about either, and the genuineness of described documents. Each matter must be separately stated, and a request to admit the genuineness of a document must be accompanied by a copy of the document unless it has already been furnished or made available for inspection and copying.
Renata Russo served requests for admission on Raven Logistics seeking admission that certain shipping contracts were genuine. She attached only partial excerpts rather than complete copies of the contracts. Raven Logistics objected that the requests failed to comply with the required procedure for document genuineness. The court sustained the objection because the full documents had not been attached or previously made available.
Ronald Reed served a single request for admission on Ridgeway Partners that combined several distinct factual assertions about contract performance dates and payment amounts. Ridgeway Partners moved to strike the request on the ground that each matter had not been separately stated. The court granted the motion and required Reed to serve revised requests that presented each matter individually.
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Yes. The rule expressly permits requests to admit facts, the application of law to fact, and opinions about either. A party may therefore be required to admit or deny matters that involve mixed questions of fact and law.
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Yes. Each request to admit the genuineness of a document must be accompanied by a copy of the document unless the document has already been furnished or made available for inspection and copying. Failure to attach the documents renders the requests improper as served.
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No. The rule forbids objecting on the ground that a request presents a genuine issue for trial. If the matter is genuinely disputed, the responding party must deny, qualify, or explain why it cannot admit or deny after reasonable inquiry.
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No. Requests may properly seek admissions about a party's own opinions and evaluative judgments concerning the facts and the application of law to those facts. A party cannot refuse to answer merely because the requests call for opinions about reasonableness or necessity.
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…as oral deposition by telephone (Rule 30(b)(7)), deposition upon written questions (Rule 31), interrogatories (Rule 33), and requests for admission (Rule 36), while enjoying protection from harassment (Rule 26(c)), and possibly obtaining costs and attorney's fees for some of the work involved (Rules 37(a)(4), (b)-(d)). Moreover, a…