Oregon discovery: there are no interrogatories
Oregon procedure · Last verified August 17, 2026
If you practise anywhere else and are handed an Oregon case, this is the fact that matters most.
The list of methods, and what's missing
ORCP 36 A:
Parties may obtain discovery by one or more of the following methods: depositions on oral examination or written questions; production of documents or things or permission to enter land or other property for inspection and other purposes; physical and mental examinations; and requests for admission.
Four methods. Interrogatories are absent, and their absence is deliberate rather than an oversight — there is no ORCP interrogatory rule anywhere in the discovery chapter. The rules run ORCP 36 (general provisions), 37 (perpetuation), 38 (oaths and foreign depositions), 39 (depositions on oral examination), 40 (depositions upon written questions), 41 (errors and irregularities), 43 (production of documents), 44 (physical and mental examinations), 45 (requests for admission) and 46 (sanctions). Nothing between them provides for written interrogatories.
Oregon is essentially alone in this among American civil systems.
What replaces them
Depositions carry the load. ORCP 39 governs depositions on oral examination. Because there is no cheap written device for basic identification questions — who has knowledge, what documents exist, how damages are computed — those questions are asked at deposition, which raises the practical importance and the cost of taking them early.
ORCP 40 depositions upon written questions are the nearest formal analogue to an interrogatory, but they operate through the deposition machinery: questions are served, cross questions and redirect follow on the schedule the rule sets, and an officer takes the answers. They are used far less than the mechanism's existence would suggest.
ORCP 43 document requests do the documentary work, and ORCP 45 requests for admission narrow issues.
Requests for admission — ORCP 45
ORCP 45 A: after commencement of an action, a party may serve on any other party a request for the admission of the truth of relevant matters within the scope of ORCP 36 B specified in the request, "including facts or opinions of fact, or the application of law to fact, or of the genuineness of any relevant documents or physical objects described in or exhibited with the request."
Copies of documents must be served with the request unless already furnished or made available for inspection and copying, and each matter of which an admission is requested must be separately set forth. The request may, without leave of court, be served on the plaintiff after commencement and on any other party with or after service of the summons.
ORCP 45 B sets the response period and the automatic-admission consequence — a matter is admitted unless the party served responds within the period the rule provides. ORCP 45 D governs the effect of an admission and withdrawal or amendment.
Because Oregon has no interrogatories, requests for admission carry more weight than they do elsewhere, and the automatic-admission consequence is correspondingly more dangerous.
Scope
ORCP 36 B(1): unless otherwise limited by court order, "for all forms of discovery, parties may inquire regarding any matter, not privileged, that is relevant to the claim or defense of the party seeking discovery or to the claim or defense of any other party, including the existence, description, nature, custody, condition, and location of any books, documents, or other tangible things and the identity and location of persons having knowledge of any discoverable matter."
Note that Oregon's scope is tied to claims and defenses, not to the broader "subject matter" formulation that Georgia, North Carolina and Virginia use.
ORCP 36 B(3) covers trial preparation materials, requiring substantial need and inability to obtain the substantial equivalent without undue hardship, with protection for mental impressions, conclusions, opinions and legal theories. ORCP 36 C supplies protective orders.
Oregon also has no automatic initial-disclosure requirement of the sort FRCP 26(a)(1) or Arizona's Rule 26.1 imposes.
Documents — ORCP 43
ORCP 43 A permits a request to produce and permit inspection, copying, testing or sampling of designated documents, electronically stored information and tangible things within the scope of ORCP 36 B, and to permit entry onto designated land or other property.
ORCP 43 B sets the procedure, including that the request specify a reasonable time, place and manner, and the period within which the responding party must serve a written response. The response must, for each item or category, state that inspection will be permitted as requested or state the grounds for objecting.
Sanctions — ORCP 46
ORCP 46 A supplies the motion for an order compelling discovery, including the requirement that the motion be accompanied by a certification that the movant has in good faith conferred or attempted to confer with the other party.
ORCP 46 B sets the consequences of failing to comply with an order — deeming facts established, refusing to allow claims or defenses, striking pleadings, staying proceedings, dismissing the action, rendering default judgment, and contempt.
ORCP 46 C addresses expenses on failure to admit under ORCP 45, and ORCP 46 D sanctions for a party's failure to attend its own deposition or respond to a request for inspection.
How this changes case strategy
| Task | Elsewhere | Oregon |
|---|---|---|
| Identify witnesses | interrogatory | deposition, or ORCP 43 request for documents identifying them |
| Get a damages computation | interrogatory or initial disclosure | deposition, or a request for admission narrowing the components |
| Pin a party to a legal contention | contention interrogatory | request for admission on the application of law to fact — ORCP 45 A |
| Identify documents | interrogatory, then a document request | ORCP 43 request directly |
| Lock in facts before trial | requests for admission | requests for admission, doing more work |
The practical consequences are that depositions come earlier and matter more; requests for admission are drafted more carefully and are more often dispositive; and the cost curve of an Oregon case is shaped differently from a federal one.
How Oregon compares
| Oregon | Washington | California | Federal | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Interrogatories | none | permitted | 35 specially prepared, or unlimited with a declaration | 25 |
| Automatic initial disclosure | none | none | none | Rule 26(a)(1) |
| Discovery methods listed in the rule | 4 | as in the federal rules | Civil Discovery Act devices | Rule 26(a)(5) |
| Scope | relevant to a claim or defense | relevant to a claim or defense | relevant to the subject matter | relevant and proportional |
| Requests for admission | ORCP 45, admitted automatically | CR 36 | CCP 2033 — motion required to deem admitted | Rule 36, admitted automatically |
A short checklist
- Don't draft interrogatories. There is no rule to serve them under.
- Plan depositions early — they carry the identification work interrogatories do elsewhere.
- Use ORCP 45 deliberately. Admissions on the application of law to fact are expressly permitted and do more work here than in other systems.
- Watch the ORCP 45 response period — the admission is automatic.
- Consider ORCP 40 written-question depositions where a written record is genuinely needed, but budget for the officer and the schedule.
- Confer before moving under ORCP 46 — the certification is part of the motion.
Where these rules live
- ORCP 36 — General Provisions Governing Discovery
- ORCP 39 — Depositions on Oral Examination
- ORCP 43 — Production of Documents and Things; Entry on Land
- ORCP 44 — Physical and Mental Examination of Persons
- ORCP 45 — Requests for Admission
- ORCP 46 — Failure to Make Discovery; Sanctions
- ORCP 47 — Summary Judgment
The Oregon Judicial Department publishes self-help material at courts.oregon.gov. Some Oregon circuit courts have supplementary local rules on discovery practice. This page explains what the rules say. It isn't legal advice.