Discovery in Georgia PI Cases: Interrogatories, Depositions, and Requests

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The period between the filing of a Georgia injury complaint and a trial date is shaped by Civil Practice Act sections that attach consequences to silence: a request for admission left unanswered is treated as admitted, and a party who fails to appear for a properly noticed deposition faces orders that can reach a default judgment.

What Discovery Can Reach

OCGA 9-11-26(a) lists the methods: depositions, written interrogatories, production of documents or things or entry upon property, physical and mental examinations, and requests for admission. Unless a court orders otherwise under subsection (c), “the frequency of use of these methods is not limited.”

The scope is set by OCGA 9-11-26(b)(1): “Parties may obtain discovery regarding any matter, not privileged, which is relevant to the subject matter involved in the pending action.” The statute adds that “[i]t is not ground for objection that the information sought will be inadmissible at the trial if the information sought appears reasonably calculated to lead to the discovery of admissible evidence.” That is a wider test than admissibility, which is why a request can reach material a jury will never see.

Two categories in subsection (b) matter in an injury case:

  • Insurance. A party may obtain discovery of “the existence and contents of any insurance agreement” under which an insurer may be liable to satisfy part or all of a judgment, and the information “is not by reason of disclosure admissible in evidence at trial” (OCGA 9-11-26(b)(2)).
  • Trial-preparation materials. Documents prepared in anticipation of litigation by or for another party are discoverable “only upon a showing that the party seeking discovery has substantial need of the materials in the preparation of his case and that he is unable without undue hardship to obtain the substantial equivalent of the materials by other means.” A party may obtain its own previous statement “without the required showing” (OCGA 9-11-26(b)(3)).

Two other provisions frame the exchange. A court may issue a protective order, for good cause shown, “to protect a party or person from annoyance, embarrassment, oppression, or undue burden or expense,” including an order that discovery not be had or be limited to certain matters (OCGA 9-11-26(c)). And a party has a duty “seasonably to supplement” a response about the identity and location of persons with knowledge and the identity, subject matter, and substance of testimony of each expected expert, and a duty to amend a response known to be incorrect when made or, though correct when made, “no longer true” where failing to amend is “in substance, a knowing concealment” (OCGA 9-11-26(e)(1), (2)).

Written Discovery: Interrogatories, Production, and Admissions

Interrogatories. OCGA 9-11-33(a)(1) provides that “no party may serve interrogatories containing more than 50 interrogatories, including subparts, upon any other party without leave of court upon a showing of complex litigation or undue hardship incurred if such additional interrogatories are not permitted.” Each interrogatory must be “answered separately and fully in writing under oath, unless it is objected to, in which event the reasons for objection shall be stated in lieu of an answer.” Answers and objections are due within 30 days after service of the interrogatories, “except that a defendant may serve answers or objections within 45 days after service of the summons and complaint upon that defendant” (OCGA 9-11-33(a)(2)). An interrogatory that calls for an opinion or contention relating to fact or to the application of law to fact is not “necessarily objectionable” for that reason (OCGA 9-11-33(b)(2)), and a party may answer by specifying business records when the burden of deriving the answer is substantially the same for both sides (OCGA 9-11-33(c)).

Requests for production and entry. OCGA 9-11-34(a)(1) reaches “designated documents (including writings, drawings, graphs, charts, photographs, phono-records, and other data compilations from which information can be obtained” and tangible things. Subsection (a)(2) adds entry “upon designated land or other property” for “inspection and measuring, surveying, photographing, testing, or sampling,” which is the tool for inspecting the place where an injury occurred. The request must describe each item or category “with reasonable particularity.” The response is due in the same 30 and 45 days as interrogatories and must state that inspection will be permitted as requested “unless the request is objected to, in which event the reasons for objection shall be stated”; if the objection reaches only part of an item or category, “the part shall be specified” (OCGA 9-11-34(b)(2)).

Requests for admission. Under OCGA 9-11-36(a)(2), “[t]he matter is admitted unless, within 30 days after service of the request or within such shorter or longer time as the court may allow, the party to whom the request is directed serves upon the party requesting the admission a written answer or objection.” Unless the court shortens the time, a defendant need not answer before 45 days after service of the summons and complaint. A denial must “fairly meet the substance of the requested admission,” and a party may not rely on lack of information unless it “states that he has made reasonable inquiry and that the information known or readily obtainable by him is insufficient to enable him to admit or deny.” Once made, an admission is “conclusively established unless the court, on motion, permits withdrawal or amendment” (OCGA 9-11-36(b)). A party that denies a matter the requester later proves may face an order to pay the expense of proving it, unless one of the exceptions in OCGA 9-11-37(c) applies.

For example, imagine a defendant served with the summons and complaint on March 2, 2027, together with requests for admission. The 45-day floor of OCGA 9-11-36(a)(2) runs to April 16, 2027. If a second set of requests is served on that defendant on April 20, 2027, thirty days after service is May 20, 2027, and a matter left unanswered on that date is admitted. The dates are counted in calendar days.

Records From Providers Who Are Not Parties

An injury case turns on medical records held by people who are not in the lawsuit. OCGA 9-11-34(c)(2) governs a request to “a nonparty who is a practitioner of the healing arts or a hospital or health care facility.” A copy must be served on the person whose records are sought “by certified mail or statutory overnight delivery, return receipt requested,” or on that person’s counsel if known, and on all parties. The nonparty, any party, or the person whose records are sought may file an objection “within 20 days of service of the request,” and the nonparty “shall not furnish the requested materials until further order of the court.” If the requesting party then moves to compel and makes a showing of good cause, “discovery shall be allowed.” If no objection is filed within the 20 days, the nonparty “shall promptly comply.”

A nonparty that produces records without having been served with an objection “shall be immune from regulatory, civil, or criminal liability or damages notwithstanding that the produced documents contained confidential or privileged information” (OCGA 9-11-34(c)(3)). Subsection (d) preserves the confidentiality provided by other Code sections for mental illness treatment records, developmental disability treatment records, alcohol and drug treatment records, and AIDS information.

Depositions

OCGA 9-11-30(a) permits any party, after commencement of the action, to take the testimony of any person, including a party, by deposition on oral examination. Leave of court “must be obtained only if the plaintiff seeks to take a deposition prior to the expiration of 30 days after service of the summons and complaint upon any defendant,” except that leave is not required “if a defendant has served a notice of taking deposition or otherwise sought discovery or if special notice is given” under subsection (b)(2). The requirement therefore falls on a plaintiff who moves early; it is not a general bar on depositions in the first thirty days. Attendance of witnesses “may be compelled by subpoena” as provided in OCGA 9-11-45.

Notice must be “reasonable notice in writing to every other party” stating the time and place, the means of recording, and the name and address of each person to be examined (OCGA 9-11-30(b)(1)). A party may name an organization as the deponent and describe the matters for examination “with reasonable particularity”; the organization designates the persons who will testify, and they “shall testify as to matters known or reasonably available to the organization” (OCGA 9-11-30(b)(6)). Testimony must be recorded stenographically unless the court orders otherwise (OCGA 9-11-30(b)(4)). Objections are noted by the officer, and “[e]vidence objected to shall be taken subject to the objections” (OCGA 9-11-30(c)(2)).

Control of an abusive examination runs through subsection (d): on a showing “that the examination is being conducted in bad faith or in such manner as unreasonably to annoy, embarrass, or oppress the deponent or party,” the court may order the examination to cease or limit its scope and manner.

Physical and Mental Examinations

When the physical or mental condition of a party “is in controversy,” OCGA 9-11-35(a) allows the court to order a physical examination by a physician or a mental examination by a physician or licensed psychologist. The order “may be made only on motion for good cause shown and upon notice to the person to be examined and to all parties,” and it must specify the time, place, manner, conditions, and scope. On request the party causing the examination must deliver a detailed written report, together with reports of all earlier examinations of the same condition (OCGA 9-11-35(b)(1)). Any party is also entitled on request to a report of “any and every examination, previously or thereafter made, of the condition in issue” from the party whose condition is in issue (OCGA 9-11-35(b)(2)).

Expert Discovery

OCGA 9-11-26(b)(4)(A)(i) allows a party, through interrogatories, to require the other side to identify each expected trial expert, “the subject matter on which the expert is expected to testify,” and “the substance of the facts and opinions to which the expert is expected to testify and a summary of the grounds for each opinion.” An expected expert may also be deposed “the same as any other witness,” but the party obtaining the discovery “must pay a reasonable fee for the time spent in responding” (OCGA 9-11-26(b)(4)(A)(ii)). An expert retained but not expected to testify may be reached only as provided in OCGA 9-11-35(b) or “upon a showing of exceptional circumstances under which it is impracticable for the party seeking discovery to obtain facts or opinions on the same subject by other means” (OCGA 9-11-26(b)(4)(B)). Discovery of an expert’s opinions is a different question from whether the opinion will be admitted at trial, which OCGA 24-7-702 addresses.

Compelling Responses and the Sanctions That Follow

A party may move for an order compelling discovery when a deponent fails to answer, a party fails to answer an interrogatory, or a party fails to respond that inspection will be permitted; “an evasive or incomplete answer is to be treated as a failure to answer” (OCGA 9-11-37(a)(2), (3)).

Expenses follow the ruling. If the motion is granted, the court “shall, after opportunity for hearing,” require the party or deponent whose conduct necessitated it, or the attorney advising that conduct, or both, to pay “the reasonable expenses incurred in obtaining the order,” including attorney’s fees, “unless the court finds that the opposition to the motion was substantially justified or that other circumstances make an award of expenses unjust.” If the motion is denied, the same rule runs the other way and the moving party or its attorney pays “the reasonable expenses incurred in opposing the motion” unless the motion was substantially justified. A partial grant allows apportionment (OCGA 9-11-37(a)(4)).

Disobeying an order to provide or permit discovery opens a wider set of orders under OCGA 9-11-37(b)(2): facts “taken to be established” in accordance with the claim of the party that obtained the order; refusing to allow the disobedient party to support or oppose designated claims or defenses; “striking out pleadings or parts thereof, or staying further proceedings until the order is obeyed, or dismissing the action or proceeding or any part thereof, or rendering a judgment by default against the disobedient party”; and contempt, except for an order to submit to a physical or mental examination. A party that never responds at all faces the first three of those orders under OCGA 9-11-37(d)(1) when it fails, after proper notice, to appear for its own deposition, to serve answers or objections to interrogatories, or to serve a written response to a request for inspection. Subsection (d)(2) closes an obvious exit: the failure “may not be excused on the ground that the discovery sought is objectionable unless the party failing to act has applied for a protective order” under OCGA 9-11-26(c).

The Tools Side by Side

Tool Statute Time to respond If there is no response
Interrogatories OCGA 9-11-33 30 days after service; a defendant may serve within 45 days after service of the summons and complaint Motion to compel and expenses; orders under OCGA 9-11-37(d)
Requests for production or entry OCGA 9-11-34 Same as interrogatories Motion to compel and expenses; orders under OCGA 9-11-37(d)
Requests for admission OCGA 9-11-36 30 days after service; a defendant need not answer before 45 days after service of the summons and complaint unless the court shortens the time The matter is admitted
Oral deposition OCGA 9-11-30 Reasonable written notice; leave of court if a plaintiff seeks a deposition within 30 days after service on any defendant, subject to stated exceptions Orders under OCGA 9-11-37(d) if a party fails to appear after proper notice

Frequently Asked Questions

Can a deposition be taken by video call?
Only by agreement or court order: “a deposition may be taken by telephone or other remote electronic means only upon the stipulation of the parties or by order of the court” (OCGA 9-11-30(b)(4)).

Can the video of a deposition be played to the jury instead of reading the transcript?
In a jury trial, deposition testimony offered other than for impeachment “shall be presented in nonstenographic form, if available,” on any party’s request, unless the court for good cause orders otherwise (OCGA 9-11-30(h)).

Can a witness correct a deposition transcript?
If review is requested before the deposition is completed, the deponent has 30 days after being notified that the transcript is available to review it and sign a statement of any changes and the reasons for them (OCGA 9-11-30(e)).

Does asking for the defense doctor’s report affect privilege?
A party who requests and obtains the report of a court-ordered examination, or takes the examiner’s deposition, “waives any privilege he may have in that action, or any other action involving the same controversy, regarding the testimony of every other person who has examined or may thereafter examine him in respect to the same mental or physical condition” (OCGA 9-11-35(b)(4)).

Is litigation funding discoverable?
A party may obtain discovery of “the existence and terms and conditions of any litigation financing agreement, as such term is defined in Code Section 7-10-1,” where the agreement’s subject is or includes the pending action, but the rule “shall not apply to nonparties unless the litigation financing agreement is for $25,000.00 or more in funding” (OCGA 9-11-26(b)(2.1)(A)). Disclosure does not by itself make the information admissible at trial (OCGA 9-11-26(b)(2.1)(B)).

  • OCGA 9-11-26(a), (b), (c), (e); OCGA 7-10-1 (as referenced in OCGA 9-11-26(b)(2.1))
  • OCGA 9-11-30(a), (b), (c), (d), (e), (h)
  • OCGA 9-11-33(a), (b), (c)
  • OCGA 9-11-34(a), (b), (c), (d)
  • OCGA 9-11-35(a), (b)
  • OCGA 9-11-36(a), (b)
  • OCGA 9-11-37(a), (b), (c), (d)
  • OCGA 24-7-702

Disclaimer

This article provides general information about Georgia civil discovery procedure. It is not legal advice and does not create an attorney-client relationship. Discovery rules carry firm deadlines, and a missed deadline can admit facts or lead to sanctions. Anyone with a specific discovery question should consult a licensed Georgia attorney about that situation.

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