Rule 4:17-4.Form, Service and Time of Answers

Last amended September 1, 2014 · Current through June 18, 2026 · Last verified July 7, 2026

In one sentenceRule 4:17-4 governs answering interrogatories — in writing under oath within 60 days, by the party or an authorized agent — and covers the business-records option, the required exchange of expert and treating-physician reports, and the HIPAA medical-records release in personal-injury cases.

Full Text of Rule 4:17-4

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

(a) Form of Answers; By Whom Answered. Except as otherwise provided in this rule, interrogatories shall be answered in writing under oath by the party upon whom served, if an individual, or, if a public or private corporation, a partnership or association, or governmental agency, by an officer or agent who shall furnish all information available to the party. If a party is unavailable, the interrogatories may be answered by an agent or authorized representative, including a liability carrier who is conducting the defense, whose answers shall bind the party. The party shall furnish all information available to the party and the party’s agents, employees, and attorneys. The person answering the interrogatories shall designate which of such information is not within the answerer’s personal knowledge and as to that information shall state the name and address of every person from whom it was received, or, if the source of the information is documentary, a full description including the location thereof. Each question shall be answered separately, fully and responsively either in the space following the question or on separate pages. Except as otherwise provided by paragraph (d) of this rule, if in any interrogatory a copy of a paper is requested, the copy shall be annexed to the answer. If the interrogatory requests the name of an expert or treating physician of the answering party or a copy of the expert’s or treating physician’s report, the party shall comply with the requirements of paragraph (e) of this rule.

(b) Service of Answers; Time; Enlargement of Time. Except as otherwise provided by R. 4:17-1(b)(2), the party served with interrogatories shall serve answers thereto upon the party propounding them within 60 days after being served with the interrogatories. For good cause shown the court may enlarge or shorten such time upon motion on notice made within the 60-day period. Consent orders enlarging the time are prohibited.

(c) Copies; Service by Propounding Party. The original of the answers shall be served upon the propounding party, who shall then serve a copy of the interrogatories and answers upon each of the other parties. Parties against whom default has been entered need not, however, be served, and parties represented by the same attorney need be served with one copy.

(d) Option to Produce Business Records. When the answer to an interrogatory may be derived or ascertained from or requires annexation of copies of the business records of the party on whom the interrogatory has been served or from an examination, audit or inspection of such business records, or from a compilation abstract or summary based thereon, or from electronically stored information, and the burden of deriving or ascertaining the answer is substantially the same for the party serving the interrogatory as for the party served, it is a sufficient answer to such interrogatory to specify the records from which the answer may be derived or ascertained and to afford to the party serving the interrogatory reasonable opportunity to examine, audit or inspect such records and to make copies, compilations, abstracts or summaries. A specification shall be in sufficient detail to permit the interrogating party to locate and to identify, as readily as can the party served, the records from which the answer may be ascertained.

(e) Expert’s or Treating Physician’s Names and Reports. If an interrogatory requires a copy of the report of an expert witness or treating or examining physician as set forth in R. 4:10-2(d)(1), the answering party shall annex to the interrogatory an exact copy of the entire report or reports rendered by the expert or physician. The report shall contain a complete statement of that person’s opinions and the basis therefor; the facts and data considered in forming the opinions; the qualifications of the witness, including a list of all publications authored by the witness within the preceding ten years; and whether compensation has been or is to be paid for the report and testimony and, if so, the terms of the compensation. If the answer to an interrogatory requesting the name and report of the party’s expert or treating physician indicates that the same will be supplied thereafter, the propounder may, on notice, move for an order of the court fixing a day certain for the furnishing of that information by the answering party. Such order may further provide that an expert or treating physician whose name or report is not so furnished shall not be permitted to testify at trial. Except as herein provided, the communications between counsel and expert deemed trial preparation materials pursuant to R. 4:10-2(d)(1) may not be inquired into.

(f) Release of Medical Records. Subject to the issuance of a protective order for good cause under R. 4:10-3, a plaintiff or a counterclaimant in any action in which damages are sought for personal injuries shall serve, contemporaneous with his or her answers to interrogatories, an executed form authorizing disclosure to the opposing party or parties, for purposes of the litigation, of the plaintiff’s or counterclaimant’s medical records pursuant to the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (HIPAA), 42 U.S.C. §§ 1301 et seq., as to each health care provider named in his or her answers to interrogatories excluding non-treating expert witnesses.

End

Amendment History

New Jersey publishes each rule’s amendment record in a “History” note beneath the rule. It is reproduced verbatim below; the “R.R.” citations refer to the former Revised Rules numbering the current rules replaced.

Source-R.R. 4:23-4, 4:23-5, 4:23-6(a)(b)(c)(d). Paragraph (a) amended and paragraph (d) adopted July 14, 1972 to be effective September 5, 1972; paragraph (a); amended September 13, 1976 to be effective September 13, 1976; paragraph (a); amended and paragraph (e) adopted July 29, 1977 to be effective September 6, 1977; paragraph (a); amended July 16, 1981 to be effective September 14, 1981; paragraph (a); amended July 26, 1984 to be effective September 10, 1984; paragraph (a); amended November 2, 1987 to be effective January 1, 1988; paragraph (a); amended November 7, 1988 to be effective January 2, 1989; paragraph (c); amended June 29, 1990 to be effective September 4, 1990; paragraphs (a), (b) and (e); amended July 13, 1994 to be effective September 1, 1994; paragraph (c); amended June 28, 1996 to be effective September 1, 1996; paragraph (b); amended July 5, 2000 to be effective September 5, 2000; paragraph (e); amended July 12, 2002 to be effective September 3, 2002; paragraph (e); amended July 28, 2004 to be effective September 1, 2004; paragraph (d); amended July 27, 2006 to be effective September 1, 2006; new paragraph (f) adopted July 22, 2014 to be effective September 1, 2014.

Plain-English Summary

This rule tells a party how and when to answer interrogatories. Answers are in writing under oath, by the party or, for an entity, by an officer or agent who furnishes all available information, and each question is answered separately, fully, and responsively. The answering party must serve answers within 60 days, a period the court may adjust only by motion, since consent orders enlarging the time are prohibited.

Several provisions handle recurring situations. When an answer can be derived from business records with equal burden on either side, the responding party may point to the records and let the other side examine them. If an interrogatory asks for an expert’s or treating physician’s report, the party must attach the entire report, including the opinions, their basis, the expert’s qualifications, and compensation. And in personal-injury cases the plaintiff serves a HIPAA authorization for medical records along with the answers.

Frequently Asked Questions

How long do you have to answer interrogatories in New Jersey?

Sixty days after being served. The court may enlarge or shorten that time only by motion made within the 60-day period; consent orders extending it are prohibited.

Do you have to produce expert reports in answers to interrogatories?

Yes. If an interrogatory asks for an expert’s or treating physician’s report, the answering party must annex the entire report, stating the opinions, their basis, the facts and data considered, the expert’s qualifications, and the compensation arrangement.

Source & verification. The rule text and amendment history are reproduced verbatim from the official New Jersey Rules of Court (N.J. Ct. R. 4:17-4). Prescribed by the Supreme Court of New Jersey (N.J. Const. art. VI, § 2, ¶ 3). The plain-English summary is original and written by us. Last verified July 7, 2026. · Official source

Also known as: answers to interrogatories60 days to answer interrogatoriesbusiness records optionexpert reportHIPAA authorizationmedical records release