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GUIDELINE 5. GUIDELINES IN REFUSING INTERROGATORY ANSWERS AND DOCUMENT REQUESTS

West's Annotated Code of MarylandDiscovery Guidelines of the Maryland State Bar Association

West's Annotated Code of Maryland

Discovery Guidelines of the Maryland State Bar Association

MD Discovery Guidelines, Guideline 5

GUIDELINE 5. GUIDELINES IN REFUSING INTERROGATORY ANSWERS AND DOCUMENT REQUESTS

(a) No part of an interrogatory or document request should be left unanswered merely because an objection is interposed to another part of the interrogatory or document request.

(b) A party may object to all or part of an interrogatory or document request while simultaneously providing a partial answer to the request. If a partial answer is provided, the answering party shall so state.

(c) When a claim of privilege is asserted in objecting to all or part of any interrogatory or document request, and information is not provided on the basis of such assertion:

(1) The party asserting a claim of privilege shall, in the objection to the interrogatory or document request, identify with specificity the nature of the claimed privilege (including work product);

(2) The following information shall be provided in the objection, unless divulgence of such information would cause disclosure of the allegedly privileged information:

(i) For oral communications:

(A) the name of the person making the communication and the names of persons present while the communication was made, and where not apparent, the relationship of the persons present to the person making the communication;

(B) the date and place of the communication; and

(ii) For each document:

(A) the type of document;

(B) the general subject matter of the document;

(D) such other information as is sufficient to identify the document for a subpoena duces tecum, including, where appropriate, the author, addressee, and any other recipient of the document, and where not apparent, the relationship of the author, addressee, and any other recipient to each other.

(iii) When only part of a document or communication is privileged/protected, the unprivileged/unprotected portion should be disclosed if otherwise discoverable and within the scope of the discovery request. See Rule 2-402(e)(1) (on withholding information).

(3) The party seeking disclosure of the information withheld may, for the purpose of determining whether to move to compel disclosure, notice the depositions of appropriate witnesses for the limited purpose of establishing other relevant information concerning the assertion of privilege, including (i) the applicability of the privilege asserted, (ii) circumstances which may constitute an exception to assertion of the privilege, (iii) circumstances which may result in the privilege having been waived, and (iv) circumstances which may overcome a claim of qualified privilege. The party seeking disclosure may apply to the court for leave to file special interrogatories or redepose a particular witness if necessary.

Credits

[Amended eff. Feb. 1, 1990; March 15, 2016.]

MD Discovery Guidelines, Guideline 5, MD R DISCOV Guideline 5

Current with amendments received through October 1, 2023. Some sections may be more current, see credits for details.

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