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A Guide to NJ Form C Interrogatories

An Overview of NJ Form C Interrogatories

In New Jersey civil litigation, the discovery process is a critical phase that allows both parties to gather information about each other’s claims and defenses. A fundamental tool of the discovery process is the use of interrogatories, which are written questions served upon the opposing party that they are required to answer in writing under oath.
There are two main categories of interrogatories in New Jersey civil litigation – standard interrogatories and customized, or "non-standard" interrogatories. Standard interrogatories are classified into four categories known as "Form A" through "Form D." These are intended to simplify the litigation process for certain types of civil lawsuits and are utilized in most New Jersey civil litigation.
Standard interrogatories are named after the shape of the print on the form on which they are printed; these include the following:

  • (1) Form A – Interrogatories for automobile negligence cases
  • (2) Form B – Interrogatories for simple negligence cases
  • (3) Form C – Interrogatories for medical malpractice cases
  • (4) Form D – Interrogatories for product liability cases

In this post we will review NJ Form C Interrogatories. In most New Jersey civil lawsuits, each party is required to exchange a set of standard interrogatories within 60 days of the date when the answer or appearance to the complaint is due. For example, if the defendant is served with the complaint on May 10, then the interrogatories would be due 60 days from that date, which is typically 6 weeks after the appearance/answer is due.
The only limitation placed upon the use of standard interrogatories is that the parties must stay within the boundaries set by Client Rule 124. These limitations require that the total number of standard interrogatories shall not exceed 75 in individual actions and 150 in family actions. This limitation does not include "sub-parts" to individual interrogatories, nor does it include lists of documents referencing their location, e.g., a Request for Production of Documents.
Form C Interrogatories are designed specifically for cases involving allegations of medical malpractice , and they contain both general and case-specific questions. Part I encompasses general questions that should be relatively consistent from case to case; Part II asks for case-specific inquiries based upon the specifics of the allegation involved in the lawsuit.
Part I of Form C Interrogatories includes questions such as the following:

  • (1) Please state the full name, residence address, business address, and occupation of the answering party;
  • (2) Please state the full business name, business address and occupation of every partnership, corporation or association in which the answering party is or was a partner or officer;
  • (3) Please state the name and addresses of each and every employer of the answering party for ten years prior to the incident;
  • (4) Please state whether you are joined in this action as a Third Party Defendant or Cross Claim Defendant, please answer either yes or no. If you have answered yes, please indicate if you deny liability in this action, as well as your basis for such denial.

Part II of Form C Interrogatories include questions such as the following:

  • (1) Identify all individuals who were present when the alleged incident occurred and were witness thereto;
  • (2) Please identify each and every treatment rendered to the plaintiff at anytime since the alleged incident, the name, address, and profession of each and every doctor, nurse, therapist, aide or other personnel — i.e. any person whatsoever — who provided or assisted in providing such treatment, and the dates during which such treatment was provided;
  • (3) Please state whether you have seen or examined the plaintiff after the alleged incident for any reason, state the nature of each examination, and the results derived therefrom;
  • (4) Has any statement been made by the plaintiff to the undersigned or to any person acting on behalf of the undersigned, whether written or oral, in regard to all or any part of the incident relative to the allegations stated in the complaint? If so, state a summary of such statement; and

In personal injury actions, interrogatories are to be served upon the plaintiff, even if the plaintiff is also a party defendant in a Third-Party complaint. The interrogatories do not need to be served upon a leave defendant, or upon a plaintiff who was served with a third-party complaint or cross-claim but was not joined in the original action as an additional defendant.

The Important Parts of Form C Interrogatories

NJ Form C Interrogatories are composed of a series of detailed questions and form parts of the discovery process in civil litigation. When a party – be it the plaintiff or the defendant – has properly served a complaint, the other side must provide answers to interrogatories including requests for admissions from the NJ court rules on both parties.
The Standard Interrogatory section (Section A) typically poses a series of questions pertinent to the case in which you must set forth information relevant to the facts of the case, addresses and employment, monetary value of assets, and medical conditions, among other items. While not exhaustive, below is a summary of the questions in part A. Keep in mind that there may be some slight variation in the questions depending upon the county where the litigation is taking place. For example, Middlesex County form C interrogatories are similar but not identical to those form interrogatories used in Essex County or other counties in NJ. In addition, other counties may chose to use a "long form" version as a matter of course, even where case does not involve complex damages. The questions below, however are the questions commonly used in Middlesex County form C interrogatories:
A. General Questions

  • Name, address, and phone numbers of all parties, attorneys and expert witnesses.
  • Nature of action, date of event, status of action.
  • Statement of contents of claim with specific items of damage.
  • Date of previous settlement discussions and reasons for settlement failure.
  • Itemization of medical expenses.
  • Itemization of wage loss and loss of earning power.
  • Other expenses incurred.
  • Birth certificate.
  • Medical authorizations and records of health providers.
  • Employment and vocational records and reports.
  • Non-expert medical and psychological witnesses.
  • Other witnesses and source of knowledge.
  • Photographs, records, reports and diagrams from other individuals and parties.
  • Tax returns of plaintiff.
  • Net worth statement and review of net worth.
  • Drafts and proof of interrogatories, bill of particulars, and discovery responses.
  • Checks, drafts, notes, and bills payable to plaintiff.
  • Goods, products, equipment, and molds in plaintiff’s possession.
  • Correspondence and papers regarding repairs and recovery.
  • Books of account and business records.
  • Insurance coverage for items claimed, amount of coverage, copies of policies and agreements.
  • Costs of securing health insurance.
  • Releases and subrogation agreements that have been executed.
  • Assistance and services by family members.
  • Loss of consortium and claims of consortium.
  • Settlement efforts, mediation sessions and discovery.
  • Involvement in other lawsuits.
  • Role of plaintiff.
  • "How" questions.
  • Change in expert witness.
  • Expert witness reports including prior reports.
  • Rules of Court and statutes referenced in answers.
  • Identification of medical and health care providers (may refer to subsection 4).
  • Work history and restrictions.
  • Prior experience with similar conditions.
  • Criminal record, arrest record, limitations to activities and punishments for violations.
  • Document indicating the date of service and returned copy.
  • Reasonable time for cross-examination.
  • Nature of damages in need of expert testimony (see subsection 3).
  • Relevant catalogs, brochures, and warnings for product deficiencies.
  • Definition of an expert witness.
  • Request to admit the accuracy of exhibits.
  • Special interrogatories and interrogatories from other parties.

How to Properly File and Respond to Form C Interrogatories

When a plaintiff submits an NJ Form C Interrogatory (demanding responses to the NJ R. 4:17-1 through 4:17-8 rules), it must be filed with the court and served on all defendants within 20 days after the date of service of the complaint upon the defendant. Thereafter, the interrogatories must be answered within 30 days of service. They can be extended by consent for one additional period of 30 days. A motion in the court is required for any extension beyond that time. At the conclusion of the period for answer, the party serving the interrogatories must file a certification that the answers to Form C have been provided. This should be perfected, even when it is agreed that the Answers are complete, because it preserves the defendant’s right to invoke the court’s procedures for enforcement if the discovery is not forthcoming.
In the New Jersey Court system, answering Interrogatories is no small task. Working hand-in-hand with our staff, we ensure that they are filled out by our clients and reviewed with me by phone & in person to ensure that the Answers are accurate and complete.

Common Issues and Best Practices

Form C Interrogatories can often be complex and time-consuming to complete which means that there are many roadblocks that parties may face when trying to submit them. The most often repeated objection that I have seen is related to the scope of these Interrogatories themselves. Rule 4:17-1 requires that the parties exchange discovery regarding the transaction or occurrence that is the subject of the litigation. You may hear something similar to this: "You can ask me what my pictures and videos are, but you can’t ask me who I’ve shown them to because that goes beyond the scope of the incident at issue." As a general rule, this exact objection is not valid. The law in New Jersey is well developed that the phrase "transaction or occurrence at issue" in Rule 4:17-1 should be interpreted broadly. As an example, the Appellate Division in Allstate Ins. Co. v. Stutz, 248 N.J. Super. 399, 415 (App. Div. 1991), held that where numerous thefts were occurring across a county and one insurance company, Allstate Insurance Company, was covering all of that property, Rule 4:17-1 applied to all of the thefts throughout the county, not just the theft of the insured’s property. Another barrier you may face is a responding party’s claim of privilege, or that the information sought is not discoverable on the grounds of relevance. A primary example of this objection is a party asserting that all of their medical records are not discoverable because only those records related to the injury at issue are discoverable. This objection is also generally not valid, and the party properly objecting to interrogatories should limit their response to those records that (1) they claim to be relevant, or (2) impact a claim or defense. To overcome this particular objection, you must file a motion to compel the production of those documents and pay the cost of doing so. In order to assist the court in deciding the motion, you should submit a certification in support of your motion outlining why that information sought is relevant, and if needed submit the documents to the Court for an in camera review, against which the court can make a ruling. If you do not, you may be met with the response "we don’t need to review that, we will just take your word for it". Another challenging objection is completeness of the answer. In other words, an answering party provides the requested answer but does not go beyond that to provide the information requested. The language of the Rule is dispositive on this issue – "these interrogatories shall be answered fully…" Furthermore, such answers as we have seen so far and which have been ruled upon, will not suffice and have been held to be an improper evasion. See Merritt-Chapman Scott Corp. v Cherry Hill Tp., 54 F.R.D. 359, 360 (D.C. N.J. 1972); Moniz v. 7-Eleven, Inc., 11 N.J. Super. 1 (App. Div. 1955); Jersey City v. McGoldrick, 8 N.J. Super. 289, 284 229 A. 282, 286 (Ch. Div. 1951); Massari v. S. R. DeJulio & Sons, 4 N.J. Super. 387, 66 A.2d 871 (Ch. Div. 1949). The last objection we will review is that the information sought is not known or ascertainable. New Jersey Law is clear that simply saying you do not know the answer to a particular question, without more, is insufficient; to state the obvious, unless the person has lived their whole life in a cave without access to any information or friend who can help them, more than likely they can find out the answer to any properly worded question. If you are planning to say you don’t know the answer, be prepared with the information and bring it to the deposition. A rule of thumb to remember is that if the party making the objection did not have any well-reasoned or legal objection, but instead improperly objected to the request, you will not be able to sustain your objection, unless it is for a privilege.

The Possible Legal Ramifications of Non-Compliance

Should a party fail to comply with the rules governing NJ Form C Interrogatories the results can be devastating. The failure to comply with the rules surrounding the completion of Form "C" Interrogatories can subject that party to sanctions and/or Counsel to an Order to Show Cause. There are essentially two ways of going about a Motion regarding questions of Interrogatory compliance in New Jersey. The first is the liberally called "Motion for Protective Order" and the second is by way of an "Order to Show Cause." Often times when the interrogatory responses are incomplete, unclear or evasive, the response party claims that the specific areas that were not answered were neither relevant not appropriate to ask. By filing a Motion for a Protective Order, or an Order to Show Cause, the responding party has put the issue before the Court which essentially puts the onus on the responding party to show how the areas were inappropriate. A "Motion for Protective Order" in New Jersey will be decided by the Judge assigned to the matter. When filing such a motion, it is important that the motion be supported by a thorough affidavit stating clearly the responding party’s reasons as to why these questions are not appropriate. It is also helpful to have both sides of the argument, supported by affidavits. The entire notion of filing a "Motion for Protective Order" hinges on whether the questions are even appropriate in the first place. If a Court finds that the questions are appropriate, then the responding party must answer the questions as posed, without further objection. An Order to Show Cause is simply a request to the Court to rule on an issue in the absence of any additional factual support. While not the most practical of methods , it is effective where the parties agree that the questions are inappropriate. An Order to Show Cause is typically a more cost effective way to request answers to questions. Realistically, the reality of taking a motion before the Court is to seek sanctions against the responding party, which often times are successful. Something important to remember, when filing a Motion for a Protective Order, or Order to Show Cause is that the responding party must be able to establish "good cause" as to why that specific area was not answered with the amount of information that the interrogatory seeks. "Good cause" is an objective standard which requires the responding party to establish exactly how the party cannot provide this information. Keep in mind that the areas that you have failed to properly answer are directly related to your case and the ultimate questions as to what will resolve your matter. While filing a proceeding in order to seek sanctions is certainly not a desired result, should a responding party be adamant about failing to provide the information as requested, then the Court will notice that it is appropriate to sanction that behavior. When sanctions are to be awarded, Courts will consider the nature of the conduct, the litigant’s good faith/admissible history of compliance with other discovery, the significance of the information sought to the litigation and/or the party’s ability to pay the sanction. Depending on the circumstances the courts may issue sanctions, thus adding another layer of incentive to comply with the Rules in the first instance.

How to Draft Effective Interrogatories

The single best way to ask the right questions on Form C is to carefully review and prepare the discovery requests that Form C responses are designed to answer. Do not be afraid to list multiple discovery requests that a Form C response would need to clarify. A recent reported case involved a situation where the party answering Form C was "protecting" itself by only disclosing its assets in New Jersey and Connecticut (Id.), with the lists it provided being incomplete, with the installation or operation of much of the property even disputed as being that of the answering party. A proper examination could have identified information to help flush out what the parties each had to prove regarding the existence of assets, where they were located, and who managed them. In other words, each party’s Form C should be put up against their own discovery responses and those of the other party to identify what is missing and what inconsistencies/contradictions exist.
This brings us to the second tip, which is to plan the order of the questions and interrogatory responses so that they flow in a way to make sense on each issue. For example, questions about real estate should be asked one after the other to avoid repetitive questions. If each party has been asked to set forth all real estate owned at the time of their marriage or civil union, then it becomes easy to identify whether the answering party has failed to disclose information. If asked about each piece of real estate at an often confusing time in the divorce or dissolution action (for example, when both parties have entered into settlement negotiations, but neither has yet been told what each is going to disclose), then the answers will likely lack the detail and clarity needed to assess their reasonableness. Put another way, the answering party will know what the other party knows it should answer and likely step up to the plate and provide information that may not necessarily be required to be disclosed, but actually makes sense and speaks to the heart of the request. Ask questions in the same order/format every time, without regard to whom you are serving the interrogatories on, and you will find the answers to be less informative than you hoped.
Third, if you do not know what the answer should be or have relevant documents to support or contradict what the responding party has said, ask to see them. If there is a dispute over ownership of a business, but your client has seen no documents, then you need to ask to see the documents evidencing the ownership interests, value of assets and income. Send a document demand at the same time as your Form C. The point is that more than one discovery vehicle should be used to get the answers that you want. You can use a deposition of the answering party and possibly others if necessary. In fact, the recent case cited above provides examples of interrogatories and document demands that were propounded to the parties in that case. Here, the best practice is to serve them both at the same time and maybe even hold the deposition at the same time. While this may preclude the use of the information obtained at the deposition at other depositions, a carefully crafted Form C can make answering the interrogatories and producing the documents at the same time more efficient (and less costly). It also forces the answering party to dedicate the resources and time necessary to respond in full to both discovery devices simply because it would be "redundant" to do so twice in a short period of time.
Finally, the Form C itself should be read carefully and the space provided used to the fullest potential. There is often not enough space to get into detail, but questions concerning income and occupation should ask for a description of what should be included. Questions concerning real estate purchased during the marriage, for instance, may well include any and all permits issued for building, environmental protection or otherwise. Catching the hidden costs that the answering party does not list can only occur if people are willing to put the time and effort into it. The issues inherent in marital or civil union cases are such that trying to be efficient will likely backfire more than you know. Like so many things in life, the investment of time up front will pay dividends in the future, if you do it right.
In a nutshell, the best tips for crafting effective interrogatories are:

  • (1) Think carefully about what you want to ask and how it fits with other discovery you may want to take. Use Form C to support each other and be sure to do so in the same order and in the same manner every time.
  • (2) Use other discovery devices and do not limit yourself to using them separately. For years, courts have encouraged (and some judges forced the use of) case management rules that urge the use of "discovery shells" or sets for each type of discovery you may want or need. Appeal to their good nature and have them tried here or at your local court house.
  • (3) Read the answering party’s responses carefully and be diligent about investigating the matters at issue.

The Importance of Legal Representation

In our legal practice, we have seen over and over again that the role of legal counsel, especially experienced trial attorneys, is invaluable when it comes to the preparation and answering of Form C Interrogatories in New Jersey. The New Jersey Courts expect discovery responses in Family Law matters to be done in a certain form and with certain language. For example, look at the specific language that we utilize in the last question of the general restrictions section (found in the attached form): "The Defendant as of divorce will continue to maintain [PRE-EXISTING TUITION ACCOUNT] utilized at [SPECIFIC SCHOOL] until the children have both graduated from [SPECIFIC SCHOOL]." The above provision puts the other party on notice of the account, the regularity of deposits and the specific school that the funds are utilized for. The more that you can put the other litigant on notice regarding the existence and terms of the account, the attorney can craft the necessary language, in the form of a Motion, in order to ensure that there is compliance with funds that were deposited pre-complaint .
The most common question that we receive is, "I answered these questions months ago, but the other party is not providing answers and/or complying with documents requested pursuant to the aforementioned interrogatories – what do I do?" The answer is simple – file a Motion to Compel. The Court system exists to punish non-compliance and to provide remedies to protect parties from non-responsiveness. You can also schedule a case management conference and ask the Court to order the non-compliance. It is also important to note at a case management conference, depending on the rules of the court, that a party can ask for the entry of a default for non-appearance. The remedy for that is a Motion request to enter a default, along with a certified statement that the other party did not appear. The Court can then order the offending party to provide the responses.
In conclusion, the role of legal counsel is to ensure compliance and to create a balance in family law matters. We strongly recommend obtaining legal counsel when preparing and answering Form C Interrogatories, or any other discovery inquiries for that matter.