Rule 2.309.Interrogatories to Parties

Current through May 1, 2026 · Last verified July 6, 2026

In one sentenceRule 2.309 lets a party serve up to twenty written interrogatories on another party, requires each one to be answered separately, in writing, and under oath (or objected to with reasons), and gives the answering party a set window to respond before the other side can move to compel.

Full Text of Rule 2.309

Text sizeJump to: (A) (B) (C) (D) (E)

(A) Availability; Procedure for Service; Limits.

(1) A party may serve on another party written interrogatories to be answered by the party served or, if the party served is a public or private corporation, partnership, association, or governmental agency, by an officer or agent. Subject to MCR 2.302(B), interrogatories may, without leave of court, be served:

(a) on the plaintiff after commencement of the action or

(b) on a defendant with or after the service of the summons and complaint on that defendant.

(2) Each separately represented party may serve no more than twenty interrogatories upon each party. A discrete subpart of an interrogatory counts as a separate interrogatory.

(B) Answers and Objections.

(1) Each interrogatory must be answered separately and fully in writing under oath. The answers must include such information as is available to the party served or that the party could obtain from his or her employees, agents, representatives, sureties, or indemnitors. If the answering party objects to an interrogatory, the reasons for the objection must be stated in lieu of an answer.

(2) The answering party shall repeat each interrogatory or subquestion immediately before the answer to it.

(3) The answers must be signed by the person making them and the objections signed by the attorney or an unrepresented party making them.

(4) The party on whom the interrogatories are served must serve the answers and objections, if any, on all other parties within 28 days after the interrogatories are served, except that a defendant may serve answers within 42 days after being served with the summons and complaint. The court may allow a longer or shorter time and, for good cause shown, may excuse service on parties other than the party who served the interrogatories.

(C) Motion to Compel Answers. The party submitting the interrogatories may move for an order under MCR 2.313(A) with respect to an objection to or other failure to answer an interrogatory. If the motion is based on the failure to serve answers, proof of service of the interrogatories must be filed with the motion. The motion must state that the movant has in good faith conferred or attempted to confer with the party not making the disclosure in an effort to secure the disclosure without court action.

(D) Scope; Use at Trial.

(1) An interrogatory may relate to matters that can be inquired into under MCR 2.302(B).

(2) An interrogatory otherwise proper is not necessarily objectionable merely because an answer to the interrogatory involves an opinion or contention that relates to fact or the application of law to fact, but the court may order that an interrogatory need not be answered until after designated discovery has been completed or until a pretrial conference or other later time.

(3) The answer to an interrogatory may be used to the extent permitted by the rules of evidence.

(E) Option to Produce Business Records. Where the answer to an interrogatory may be derived from

(1) the business records of the party on whom the interrogatory has been served,

(2) an examination, audit, or inspection of business records, or

(3) a compilation, abstract, or summary based on such records, and the burden of deriving the answer is substantially the same for the party serving the interrogatory as for the party served, it is a sufficient answer to the interrogatory to specify the records from which the answer may be derived and to afford to the party serving the interrogatory reasonable opportunity to examine, audit, or inspect the records and to make copies, compilations, abstracts, or summaries. A specification shall be in sufficient detail to permit the interrogating party to identify, as readily as can the party served, the records from which the answer may be derived.

End

Amendment History

Michigan tracks the orders that adopt and amend its Court Rules in a separate administrative record rather than printing a history note beneath each rule in the compiled rules text reproduced here. The text above is verified current through the source’s own May 1, 2026 update; for the full order-by-order history of this rule, see the Michigan Supreme Court’s rules and orders page.

Plain-English Summary

Interrogatories are written questions one party sends another party to answer under oath, and Rule 2.309 caps the number at twenty per party, counting each distinct subpart as its own interrogatory. A party can serve interrogatories on a plaintiff once the case begins, and on a defendant with or after being served the summons and complaint, without needing the court's permission first. Each interrogatory has to be answered separately and in full, drawing not just on what the answering party personally knows but on information reasonably available through employees, agents, or representatives; if the party objects instead of answering, it has to say why. Answers must repeat the question before the answer and be signed by the person who gave them, with any objections signed by the attorney or the unrepresented party raising them. The responding party generally has 28 days to serve answers and objections, though a defendant gets 42 days measured from being served the summons and complaint, and courts can adjust that window.

If a party won't answer, or won't answer completely, the party who sent the interrogatories can move to compel under Rule 2.313, but only after showing a good-faith effort to work it out first. The rule also gives a shortcut for interrogatories answerable from business records: rather than digging through its own files to write an answer, the responding party can point the other side to the records themselves and let them do the digging, so long as both sides would have roughly the same amount of work either way.

Frequently Asked Questions

How many interrogatories can I send the other side?

No more than twenty per party, and a discrete subpart of a single interrogatory counts as its own separate interrogatory toward that limit.

How long does the other side have to answer interrogatories?

Generally 28 days after service, though a defendant gets 42 days measured from being served the summons and complaint; the court can shorten or extend either deadline.

Can the other side just point me to their business records instead of answering?

Yes, if the answer can be derived from those records and figuring it out would take about the same effort for either side; the responding party has to specify the records in enough detail that you can find the answer yourself.

What can I do if the other side won't answer my interrogatories?

Move to compel an answer under Rule 2.313, but only after you've first tried in good faith to work out the disagreement without involving the court.

Source & verification. The rule text is reproduced verbatim from the official Michigan Court Rules (MCR 2.309). Prescribed by the Supreme Court of Michigan (Mich. Const. 1963, art. VI, § 5). The plain-English summary is original and written by us. Last verified July 6, 2026. · Official source

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