Section 13-1.Definitions

Current through August 12, 2025 (2026 Practice Book edition) · Last verified July 9, 2026

In one sentenceDefines the key terms — including “statement,” “party,” “document,” and “identify” — and rules of construction that apply throughout Connecticut’s civil discovery chapter unless a party specifies otherwise.

Full Text of Section 13-1

Text sizeJump to: (a) (b) (c) (d)

(a) For purposes of this chapter: (1) ‘‘statement’’ means (A) a written statement in the handwriting of the person making it, or signed, or initialed, or otherwise in writing adopted or approved by the person making it; or (B) a stenographic, mechanical, electrical or other recording or a transcription thereof, which is a substantially verbatim recital of an oral statement by the person making it and which is contemporaneously recorded; (2) ‘‘party’’ means (A) a person named as a party in the action, or (B) an agent, employee, officer, or director of a public or private corporation, partnership, association, or governmental agency, named as a party in the action; (3) ‘‘representative’’ includes agent, attorney, consultant, indemnitor, insurer, and surety; (4) ‘‘electronic’’ means relating to technology having electrical, digital, magnetic, wireless, optical, electromagnetic, or similar capabilities; (5) ‘‘electronically stored information’’ means information that is stored in an electronic medium and is retrievable in perceivable form.

(b) The full text of the definitions and rules of construction set forth in subsections (c) and (d) herein is deemed incorporated by reference into all discovery requests served pursuant to this chapter and shall preclude any broader definition of a term defined in subsection (c), but shall not preclude: (1) the definition of other terms specific to the particular litigation; (2) the use of abbreviations; or (3) a more narrow definition of a term defined in subsection (c).

(1) Communication. The term ‘‘communication’’ means the transmittal of information (in the form of facts, ideas, inquiries or otherwise).

(2) Document. The term ‘‘document’’ means any writing, drawing, graph, chart, photograph, sound recording, image, and other data or data compilation, stored in any medium from which information can be obtained either directly or, if necessary, after translation by the responding party into a reasonably usable form. A draft or nonidentical copy is a separate document within the meaning of this term. A request for production of ‘‘documents’’ shall encompass, and the response shall include, electronically stored information, as defined in subsection (a) above, unless otherwise specified by the requesting party.

(3) Identify (with respect to persons). When referring to a person, to ‘‘identify’’ means to provide, to the extent known, the person’s full name, present or last known address, and when referring to a natural person, additionally, the present or last known place of employment. Once a person has been identified in accordance with this subdivision, only the name of that person need be listed in response to subsequent discovery requesting the identification of that person.

(4) Identify (with respect to documents or electronically stored information). When referring to documents or electronically stored information, to ‘‘identify’’ means: to provide, to the extent known, information about the (A) type of document or electronically stored information; (B) its general subject matter; (C) the date of the document or electronically stored information; and (D) author(s), addressee(s) and recipient(s).

(5) Identify (with respect to oral communications). When referring to an oral communication, to ‘‘identify’’ means: (A) to state the date and place of the oral communication; (B) to identify all persons hearing, present or participating in the communication; (C) to state whether the communication was in person, by telephone, or by some other means or medium; (D) to summarize what was said by each such person, or provide a transcript if one is available.

(6) Identify (with respect to an act or event). When referring to an act or event, to ‘‘identify’’ means: (A) to describe the act or event, including its location and its date; (B) to identify the persons participating, present or involved in the act or event; (C) to identify all oral communications which were made at the act or event identified; and (D) to identify all documents concerning the act or event identified.

(7) Person. The term ‘‘person’’ is defined as any natural person or any business, legal or governmental entity or association.

(8) Concerning. The term ‘‘concerning’’ means relating to, referring to, describing, evidencing or constituting.

(9) You. The term ‘‘you’’ means the party or person to whom a discovery request is directed, except that: (A) if the party is the representative of the estate of a decedent, ward, or incapable person, ‘‘you’’ shall also refer to the party’s decedent, ward or incapable person, unless the context of the discovery request clearly indicates otherwise; and (B) notwithstanding subsection (b) above, the propounding party may specify a different definition of the term ‘‘you.’’

(d) The following rules of construction apply to all discovery requests:

(1) All/Each. The terms ‘‘all’’ and ‘‘each’’ shall both be construed as all and each.

(2) And/Or. The connectives ‘‘and’’ and ‘‘or’’ shall be construed either disjunctively or conjunctively as necessary to bring within the scope of the discovery request all responses that might otherwise be construed to be outside its scope.

(3) Number. The use of the singular form of any word includes the plural and vice versa.

(4) Gender. Unless the context clearly requires otherwise, the use of any pronoun or gender-identified form of any word includes both the male and female genders.

End

Amendment History

(P.B. 1978-1997, Sec. 216.) (Amended June 20, 2011, to take effect Jan. 1, 2012; amended June 14, 2013, to take effect Jan. 1, 2014.)

Plain-English Summary

Section 13-1 opens the discovery chapter by fixing what its recurring words mean. A “statement” is either a writing the person made, signed, initialed, or otherwise adopted, or a substantially verbatim recording of an oral statement made at the time it was spoken. “Party” covers a named party or, for an organization, its agents, employees, officers, or directors. “Representative” includes an agent, attorney, consultant, indemnitor, insurer, and surety, while “electronic” and “electronically stored information” describe information stored and retrievable through electronic means. These definitions and the rules of construction in subsections (c) and (d) are read into every discovery request served under the chapter, and they set a floor: a party can define other terms specific to the litigation, use abbreviations, or narrow one of these definitions, but can’t broaden it.

Subsection (c) then defines the working vocabulary of a discovery request: “communication” means transmitting information; “document” covers writings, recordings, images, and data compilations in any medium, including electronically stored information unless the requesting party says otherwise, and treats a draft or nonidentical copy as its own separate document; and “identify” carries different specific requirements depending on whether it’s applied to a person, a document, an oral communication, or an act or event. “Person,” “concerning,” and “you” are also defined, with “you” extending to a decedent, ward, or incapable person when the party responding is that person’s representative. Subsection (d) then sets four rules of construction: “all” and “each” are read as both, “and” and “or” are read however necessary to keep a response within the request’s scope, singular includes plural and vice versa, and gendered words include both genders unless context requires otherwise.

Frequently Asked Questions

What counts as a “statement” under Connecticut’s discovery rules?

A writing the person made, signed, initialed, or otherwise adopted, or a substantially verbatim recording of an oral statement made and captured at the time it was spoken.

Does “document” in a Connecticut discovery request include emails and electronic files?

Yes. A request for “documents” encompasses electronically stored information unless the requesting party specifies otherwise, and drafts or nonidentical copies count as separate documents.

Can parties define discovery terms differently than Section 13-1?

Yes, within limits. A party may define other litigation-specific terms, use abbreviations, or apply a narrower definition than Section 13-1 provides, but may not use a broader definition of a term the rule already defines.

What does “identify” require when a discovery request asks to identify a person?

To the extent known, the person’s full name, present or last known address, and, for a natural person, present or last known place of employment; once identified that way, later requests need only list the name.

Source & verification. The section text is reproduced verbatim from the official Connecticut Practice Book (Conn. Practice Book § 13-1). Prescribed by the Judges of the Superior Court of Connecticut (Conn. Gen. Stat. Section 51-14). The plain-English summary is original and written by us. Last verified July 9, 2026. · Official source

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