Also known as:requests for admission · request for admissions · requests for admissions · RFA · request to admit
Written by attorneys · grounded in primary & secondary sources — see below
A written discovery device by which one party asks another to admit the truth of specified matters within the scope of discovery for purposes of the pending action only. The device covers statements or opinions of fact, the application of law to fact, and the genuineness of described documents. Each matter must be separately stated, and a request to admit the genuineness of a document must be accompanied by a copy of the document unless it has already been furnished.
Sources & Authorities
How it applies
Common Examples
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Separate Statements and Document Attachment
Riverstone Manufacturing serves Reliance Insurance with a single document containing ten requests for admission. The first six requests concern facts about an insurance policy, while the seventh bundles three distinct factual assertions into one paragraph and attaches no copy of the policy even though it has never been produced. Reliance objects that the seventh request violates the separate-statement requirement and that the policy must accompany the request. The court sustains the objection and orders Riverstone to revise the requests before Reliance must respond.
Protective Order Limits on RFAs
Raphael Rivera, a newspaper reporter, serves a set of requests for admission on a religious organization seeking admissions about its financial dealings. The organization moves for a protective order arguing that the requests seek sensitive membership information and would chill associational rights. The court grants the motion in part, narrowing the scope of the requests while allowing others to proceed under seal.
Select any source to read its text and confirm it supports the definition.
Federal Rules
Course Outlines
Dictionaries
Seattle Times Co. v. Rhinehart467 U.S. 20, 32–33, 36 (1984)
RFAs in Personal Jurisdiction Dispute
Roger Ramirez, a California resident, serves requests for admission on an out-of-state defendant in a products-liability action. The requests ask the defendant to admit it regularly ships goods into California and maintains a sales office there. The defendant objects that the requests improperly seek to establish contacts for jurisdiction. The court overrules the objection, holding that the matters are within the scope of discovery and may be used to support the jurisdictional analysis.
Burnham v. Superior Court of Cal., County of Marin495 U.S. 604, 618, 110 S.Ct. 2105, 109 L.Ed.2d 631 (1990)
Common questions
Frequently Asked
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What happens if a party fails to respond to a request for admission within the required time?+
The matter is deemed admitted. Under the governing rule, a party has thirty days after service to serve a written answer or objection. Failure to do so conclusively establishes the matter for the action.
Supporting sources
May a request for admission seek an admission about the application of law to fact?+
Yes. The rule expressly permits requests that ask a party to admit the application of law to fact. This allows parties to narrow the issues without requiring proof at trial of mixed questions.
Supporting sources
What must accompany a request to admit the genuineness of a document?+
A copy of the document must accompany the request unless the document has already been furnished or made available for inspection and copying. Each matter must also be separately stated.
Supporting sources
Can a party use a request for admission to avoid authenticating a document at trial?+
Yes. When the opposing party admits the genuineness of a document through a request for admission, the proponent need not call a witness to authenticate it. The admission conclusively establishes the document for purposes of the action.
Supporting sources
495 U.S. 604, 618, 110 S.Ct. 2105, 109 L.Ed.2d 631 (1990)Conflict of Laws
…as oral deposition by telephone (Rule 30(b)(7)), deposition upon written questions (Rule 31), interrogatories (Rule 33), and requests for admission (Rule 36), while enjoying protection from harassment (Rule 26(c)), and possibly obtaining costs and attorney's fees for some of the work involved (Rules 37(a)(4), (b)-(d)). Moreover, a…