Interrogatories example: Questions and answers
Interrogatories example: Questions and answers
Legal content overseen by Nathan Walter, Esq., attorney licensed in California (State Bar No. 313299).
An interrogatories example is easiest to read as a numbered written question paired with a numbered written answer. Under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 33, one party serves the questions on another, and each interrogatory must be answered separately and fully in writing under oath to the extent it is not objected to.
This guide covers civil discovery in U.S. district courts under the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure; state-court practice is outside its scope.
The five samples below show format and phrasing, not a complete, service-ready set. After the samples come the federal rules on limits, timing, and signatures, then the steps for preparing answers. For background, see our overview of interrogatories in discovery.
Interrogatories example: Five questions and answers
The examples below are invented hypotheticals for illustration, not a complete discovery set or case-specific legal advice.
A party’s role in the incident
The plaintiff asks the defendant driver about his role.
INTERROGATORY NO. 1: Describe your role in operating the vehicle involved in the March 3, 2026 collision at Main Street and 5th Avenue, including whether you were the driver at the time of the collision.
ANSWER TO INTERROGATORY NO. 1: I was the driver and the only occupant of the vehicle at the time of the collision. I was driving north on Main Street and entering the intersection at 5th Avenue.
The answer identifies the responding party as the driver, then stops. Rule 33(b)(3) calls for a full answer to the question asked, not a biography, and Rule 26(b)(1) limits discovery to relevant, proportional, nonprivileged matter.
Facts supporting a defense
The plaintiff asks the defendant for the facts behind a contention.
INTERROGATORY NO. 2: State the facts supporting your contention that Plaintiff entered the intersection against the traffic signal.
ANSWER TO INTERROGATORY NO. 2: The signal facing northbound Main Street traffic was green when I entered the intersection. Plaintiff’s vehicle, traveling east on 5th Avenue, entered the intersection while the cross-street signal was red, without slowing before the vehicles collided. At the scene, Plaintiff told the responding officer that she had not seen the light change.
The answer gives what the driver saw and what Plaintiff said at the scene. A line such as “exercised reasonable care at all times” would state no facts. Under Rule 33(a)(2), an interrogatory is not objectionable merely because it asks for a contention that relates to fact or the application of law to fact. The court may defer the answer until designated discovery is complete or another time it sets.
A claimed wage-loss amount
The defendant asks the plaintiff for a wage-loss calculation.
INTERROGATORY NO. 3: State the amount of wages you claim to have lost between March 4, 2026 and March 17, 2026, and state how you calculated that amount.
ANSWER TO INTERROGATORY NO. 3: I claim $2,000 in lost wages for March 4 through March 17, 2026. I missed 10 scheduled workdays in that period because of the injuries I attribute to the collision. My pay was $200 per workday before taxes. Ten workdays multiplied by $200 equals $2,000. This answer addresses only that period.
The answer states the period and the basis, so the other side can test the arithmetic. It does not say that any wage loss, past or future, is recoverable. A defined period also fits Rule 26(b)(1) proportionality better than a request for all financial history.
People with knowledge of an employment decision
The employee-plaintiff asks the employer-defendant who decided.
INTERROGATORY NO. 4: Identify each person who participated in the decision to terminate Plaintiff’s employment on April 15, 2026, and state each person’s job title and role in the decision.
ANSWER TO INTERROGATORY NO. 4: Maria Chen, Plaintiff’s direct supervisor, recommended the termination. Dana Okafor, Director of Operations, made the final decision. Samuel Lee, Human Resources Manager, reviewed the decision before it was communicated to Plaintiff. This answer is based on the information available to Defendant, including its personnel records and interviews of these three people.
When a corporation, partnership, association, or governmental agency is the responding party, Rule 33(b)(1)(B) says an officer or agent answers and “must furnish the information available to the party.” That is why this answer draws on personnel records and interviews, not only the signer’s memory.
Records supporting a damages calculation
The defendant asks the plaintiff to identify the supporting records.
INTERROGATORY NO. 5: Identify the wage statements you used to calculate the amount stated in your answer to Interrogatory No. 3.
ANSWER TO INTERROGATORY NO. 5: I used the weekly wage statements issued by my employer for the weeks ending March 6, March 13, and March 20, 2026. Copies were produced with Plaintiff’s document production as PLTF000101 through PLTF000103.
Identifying a record in an answer differs from asking for its production, which is a Rule 34(a)(1) request. A Bates range (the sequential numbers stamped on produced pages) in an answer is not automatically a valid substitute for the answer itself, because Rule 33(d) sets conditions, covered below.
Federal rules that shape the examples
These entries summarize Rules 33, 26, and 6. Court orders and local requirements in the district also need review; this guide does not describe any local rule.
Number of interrogatories
Under Rule 33(a)(1), unless otherwise stipulated or ordered by the court, a party may serve on any other party no more than 25 written interrogatories, including all discrete subparts. Leave to serve more may be granted to the extent consistent with Rule 26(b)(1) and (2).
Scope
Under Rule 33(a)(2), an interrogatory may relate to any matter within Rule 26(b). Rule 26(b)(1) covers nonprivileged matter that is relevant to a party’s claim or defense and proportional to the needs of the case. Relevance alone is not enough.
Response time
Rule 33(b)(2) requires the responding party to serve its answers and any objections within 30 days after being served with the interrogatories. The parties may stipulate to a shorter or longer time under Rule 29, or the court may order one.
Calculating time
Rule 6(a)(1) excludes the triggering day, counts intermediate weekends and legal holidays, and includes the last day. If the last day is a Saturday, Sunday, or legal holiday, the period runs to the end of the next day that is not one. Rule 6(d) adds 3 days only after service made under Rule 5(b)(2)(C) (mail), (D) (leaving with the clerk), or (F) (other means consented to).
Answers and signatures
Rule 33(b)(3) requires each interrogatory, to the extent not objected to, to be answered separately and fully in writing under oath. Under Rule 33(b)(5), the person who makes the answers signs them, and the attorney who objects signs any objections.
How to adapt the questions to your case
1. Tie the question to a disputed fact
Start from the pleadings. Identify what the parties disagree about, then write the question to reach that fact. Rule 26(b)(1) ties scope to a claim or defense and to proportionality.
2. Define the event and time period
Name the event, date, and place. “Describe your medical treatment” invites objections. “Identify each provider who treated the neck injury alleged in the complaint, from the collision date to the date of your answer” is easier to answer and to defend.
3. Review the set and its discrete subparts
Numbering on the page does not settle the Rule 33(a)(1) count. A question with several lettered parts may count as more than one interrogatory. Our guide on how to draft interrogatories covers the propounding workflow in more detail.
How to prepare complete answers and specific objections
1. Gather facts from the client and records
Reconcile names, dates, amounts, and organizational information from the client and the records. Briefpoint drafts responses and objections to interrogatories from that material. Client Bridge client collection is an optional way to send clients plain-language questions through a secure link and receive their answers and uploads for attorney review.
2. Answer each question fully
Rule 33(b)(3) requires a full answer to the extent the interrogatory is not objected to, so a short answer works only if it is complete. State what is known, say so where information is unknown, and do not guess. “Investigation is ongoing” does not excuse withholding information already available.
3. Explain any objection specifically
Rule 33(b)(4) requires the grounds for an objection to be stated with specificity. A ground not stated in a timely objection is waived unless the court, for good cause, excuses the failure.
Suppose a question asks about employment “ever.” An objection that explains why the period is overbroad for the claims at issue, and says the response covers a defined shorter period, is more specific than a list of stock grounds. The rest still needs a full answer under Rule 33(b)(3).
If information is withheld as privileged, Rule 26(b)(5)(A) requires the party to expressly make the claim and describe what is withheld so others can assess the claim without revealing privileged information. Our guide to objections to interrogatories covers specific grounds.
4. Review signatures and serve the response
Before service, check the signatures required by Rule 33(b)(5): the answering person’s on the answers and the objecting attorney’s on any objections. Serve the responses within the Rule 33(b)(2) period, as stipulated or ordered.
When records and later facts affect an answer
When Rule 33(d) permits a records-based answer
Rule 33(d) allows a business-records answer only if the answer may be determined by examining, auditing, compiling, abstracting, or summarizing a party’s business records (including electronically stored information) and the burden is substantially the same for either party. The responding party must also specify the records in enough detail for the other side to locate and identify them as readily as the responding party could, and give a reasonable opportunity to examine and audit them and to make copies, compilations, abstracts, or summaries.
Writing “see documents produced” or giving a Bates stamp alone does not meet those conditions. Rule 33(d) also differs from a question asking which documents exist, as in Interrogatory No. 5. Production belongs under Rule 34; see our page on requests for production. Autodoc document matching and Bates citations finds responsive documents and adds page-level Bates citations.
When a response must be supplemented
Under Rule 26(e)(1)(A), a party who has answered an interrogatory must supplement or correct the answer in a timely manner if it learns the answer is incomplete or incorrect in some material respect, and the additional or corrective information has not otherwise been made known to the other parties during discovery or in writing. Under Rule 26(e)(1)(B), the court may also order supplementation. A “reservation of rights” sentence neither creates this duty nor replaces it. The Supplemental Responses feature supports this stage.
Draft interrogatory responses with Briefpoint
Briefpoint drafts responses and objections to interrogatories for attorneys to review. For plaintiff firms, Client Bridge can send clients plain-language questions through a secure link and collect their answers and uploads for attorney review, so you can fill gaps in client facts before drafting. Output is editable in Microsoft Word, and attorneys keep final review.
Autodoc can find responsive documents, add page-level Bates citations, and build Bates-numbered production packages for the attorney to check. A draft is a starting point for that review, not a response ready to serve, and it does not guarantee compliance with Rule 33 or any court’s requirements. Reviewing each answer against the record and deciding on objections remains the attorney’s work.
For more on plaintiff-side use, see discovery software for plaintiff firms.
To see how Briefpoint fits your discovery workflow, Book a demo.
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FAQs about interrogatories example
What is an example of an interrogatory?
One example is: “Describe your role in operating the vehicle involved in the March 3, 2026 collision.” Each answer is matched by number. Under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 33(a), a party may serve written interrogatories on another party, and Rule 33(b)(3) requires each to be answered separately and fully in writing under oath, to the extent it is not objected to.
How do you answer interrogatories?
Answer each interrogatory separately and fully in writing under oath, to the extent you do not object to it. Check the facts against the client’s account and records first. State any objection with specificity, because Rule 33(b)(4) treats grounds not stated in a timely objection as waived unless the court excuses the failure for good cause.
How many interrogatories can you ask in federal court?
Under Rule 33(a)(1), a party may serve no more than 25 written interrogatories on any other party, including all discrete subparts, unless the parties stipulate otherwise or the court orders a different number. The numbers on the page do not settle the count, because one numbered question with discrete subparts may count as more than one.
How long do you have to respond to interrogatories?
Rule 33(b)(2) sets 30 days after service of the interrogatories, unless the parties stipulate to a different time under Rule 29 or the court orders one. Rule 6(a)(1) excludes the day of service, counts intermediate weekends and legal holidays, and extends a period that ends on a weekend or legal holiday. Rule 6(d) adds 3 days only after certain service methods. Check the scheduling order.
Who signs interrogatory answers?
The person who makes the answers signs them, and the attorney who objects signs any objections, under Rule 33(b)(5). If the responding party is a corporation, partnership, association, or governmental agency, Rule 33(b)(1)(B) has an officer or agent answer and furnish the information available to the party. That person signs as the one making the answers.
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