ARTICLE 1. Propounding Interrogatories [2030.010. - 2030.090.]

Cal. Code of Civil Procedure - CCP 1.

in effect

Cal. Code of Civil Procedure - CCP § 2030.010. Section 2030.010.

(a) Any party may obtain discovery within the scope delimited by Chapter 2 (commencing with Section 2017.010), and subject to the restrictions set forth in Chapter 5 (commencing with Section 2019.010), by propounding to any other party to the action written interrogatories to be answered under oath. (b) An interrogatory may relate to whether another party is making a certain contention, or to the facts, witnesses, and writings on which a contention is based. An interrogatory is not objectionable because an answer to it involves an opinion or contention that relates to fact or the application of law to fact, or would be based on information obtained or legal theories developed in anticipation of litigation or in preparation for trial.

Cal. Code of Civil Procedure - CCP § 2030.020. Section 2030.020.

(a) A defendant may propound interrogatories to a party to the action without leave of court at any time. (b) A plaintiff may propound interrogatories to a party without leave of court at any time that is 10 days after the service of the summons on, or appearance by, that party, whichever occurs first. (c) Notwithstanding subdivision (b), in an unlawful detainer action or other proceeding under Chapter 4 (commencing with Section 1159) of Title 3 of Part 3, a plaintiff may propound interrogatories to a party without leave of court at any time that is 10 days after service of the summons on, or appearance by, that party, whichever occurs first. (d) Notwithstanding subdivisions (b) and (c), on motion with or without notice, the court, for good cause shown, may grant leave to a plaintiff to propound interrogatories at an earlier time.

Cal. Code of Civil Procedure - CCP § 2030.030. Section 2030.030.

(a) A party may propound to another party either or both of the following: (1) Thirty-five specially prepared interrogatories that are relevant to the subject matter of the pending action. (2) Any additional number of official form interrogatories, as described in Chapter 17 (commencing with Section 2033.710), that are relevant to the subject matter of the pending action. (b) Except as provided in Section 2030.070, no party shall, as a matter of right, propound to any other party more than 35 specially prepared interrogatories. If the initial set of interrogatories does not exhaust this limit, the balance may be propounded in subsequent sets. (c) Unless a declaration as described in Section 2030.050 has been made, a party need only respond to the first 35 specially prepared interrogatories served, if that party states an objection to the balance, under Section 2030.240, on the ground that the limit has been exceeded.

Cal. Code of Civil Procedure - CCP § 2030.040. Section 2030.040.

(a) Subject to the right of the responding party to seek a protective order under Section 2030.090, any party who attaches a supporting declaration as described in Section 2030.050 may propound a greater number of specially prepared interrogatories to another party if this greater number is warranted because of any of the following: (1) The complexity or the quantity of the existing and potential issues in the particular case. (2) The financial burden on a party entailed in conducting the discovery by oral deposition. (3) The expedience of using this method of discovery to provide to the responding party the opportunity to conduct an inquiry, investigation, or search of files or records to supply the information sought. (b) If the responding party seeks a protective order on the ground that the number of specially prepared interrogatories is unwarranted, the propounding party shall have the burden of justifying the number of these interrogatories.

Cal. Code of Civil Procedure - CCP § 2030.050. Section 2030.050.

Any party who is propounding or has propounded more than 35 specially prepared interrogatories to any other party shall attach to each set of those interrogatories a declaration containing substantially the following: DECLARATION FOR ADDITIONAL DISCOVERY I, __________, declare: 1. I am (a party to this action or proceeding appearing in propria persona) (presently the attorney for __________, a party to this action or proceeding). 2. I am propounding to __________ the attached set of interrogatories. 3. This set of interrogatories will cause the total number of specially prepared interrogatories propounded to the party to whom they are directed to exceed the number of specially prepared interrogatories permitted by Section 2030.030 of the Code of Civil Procedure. 4. I have previously propounded a total of __________ interrogatories to this party, of which __________ interrogatories were not official form interrogatories. 5. This set of interrogatories contains a total of __________ specially prepared interrogatories. 6. I am familiar with the issues and the previous discovery conducted by all of the parties in the case. 7. I have personally examined each of the questions in this set of interrogatories. 8. This number of questions is warranted under Section 2030.040 of the Code of Civil Procedure because __________. (Here state each factor described in Section 2030.040 that is relied on, as well as the reasons why any factor relied on is applicable to the instant lawsuit.) 9. None of the questions in this set of interrogatories is being propounded for any improper purpose, such as to harass the party, or the attorney for the party, to whom it is directed, or to cause unnecessary delay or needless increase in the cost of litigation. I declare under penalty of perjury under the laws of California that the foregoing is true and correct, and that this declaration was executed on __________. (Signature) Attorney for

Cal. Code of Civil Procedure - CCP § 2030.060. Section 2030.060.

(a) A party propounding interrogatories shall number each set of interrogatories consecutively. (b) In the first paragraph immediately below the title of the case, there shall appear the identity of the propounding party, the set number, and the identity of the responding party. (c) Each interrogatory in a set shall be separately set forth and identified by number or letter. (d) Each interrogatory shall be full and complete in and of itself. No preface or instruction shall be included with a set of interrogatories unless it has been approved under Chapter 17 (commencing with Section 2033.710). (e) Any term specially defined in a set of interrogatories shall be typed with all letters capitalized wherever that term appears. (f) No specially prepared interrogatory shall contain subparts, or a compound, conjunctive, or disjunctive question. (g) An interrogatory may not be made a continuing one so as to impose on the party responding to it a duty to supplement an answer to it that was initially correct and complete with later acquired information.

Cal. Code of Civil Procedure - CCP § 2030.070. Section 2030.070.

(a) In addition to the number of interrogatories permitted by Sections 2030.030 and 2030.040, a party may propound a supplemental interrogatory to elicit any later acquired information bearing on all answers previously made by any party in response to interrogatories. (b) A party may propound a supplemental interrogatory twice before the initial setting of a trial date, and, subject to the time limits on discovery proceedings and motions provided in Chapter 8 (commencing with Section 2024.010), once after the initial setting of a trial date. (c) Notwithstanding subdivisions (a) and (b), on motion, for good cause shown, the court may grant leave to a party to propound an additional number of supplemental interrogatories.

Cal. Code of Civil Procedure - CCP § 2030.080. Section 2030.080.

(a) The party propounding interrogatories shall serve a copy of them on the party to whom the interrogatories are directed. (b) The propounding party shall also serve a copy of the interrogatories on all other parties who have appeared in the action. On motion, with or without notice, the court may relieve the party from this requirement on its determination that service on all other parties would be unduly expensive or burdensome.

Cal. Code of Civil Procedure - CCP § 2030.090. Section 2030.090.

(a) When interrogatories have been propounded, the responding party, and any other party or affected natural person or organization may promptly move for a protective order. This motion shall be accompanied by a meet and confer declaration under Section 2016.040. (b) The court, for good cause shown, may make any order that justice requires to protect any party or other natural person or organization from unwarranted annoyance, embarrassment, or oppression, or undue burden and expense. This protective order may include, but is not limited to, one or more of the following directions: (1) That the set of interrogatories, or particular interrogatories in the set, need not be answered. (2) That, contrary to the representations made in a declaration submitted under Section 2030.050, the number of specially prepared interrogatories is unwarranted. (3) That the time specified in Section 2030.260 to respond to the set of interrogatories, or to particular interrogatories in the set, be extended. (4) That the response be made only on specified terms and conditions. (5) That the method of discovery be an oral deposition instead of interrogatories to a party. (6) That a trade secret or other confidential research, development, or commercial information not be disclosed or be disclosed only in a certain way. (7) That some or all of the answers to interrogatories be sealed and thereafter opened only on order of the court. (c) If the motion for a protective order is denied in whole or in part, the court may order that the party provide or permit the discovery against which protection was sought on terms and conditions that are just. (d) The court shall impose a monetary sanction under Chapter 7 (commencing with Section 2023.010) against any party, person, or attorney who unsuccessfully makes or opposes a motion for a protective order under this section, unless it finds that the one subject to the sanction acted with substantial justification or that other circumstances make the imposition of the sanction unjust.

Source: CA Legislative Counsel Bulk DataURL: https://downloads.leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/pubinfo_2025.zipFetched: 6/27/2026