When two parties are litigating a civil case in court (e.g. personal injury lawsuit), the parties are usually referred to as the plaintiff (party bringing the lawsuit) and the defendant (person defending against the lawsuit). Because the parties are opposed to each other, they are not going to voluntarily give each other information unless the law requires them to do so. Given this, parties will use the discovery process to force the other side to provide them with information related to the issue in the case.

The Indiana Rules of Trial Procedure establish requirements for how parties can “discover” information from each other. The primary rules on discovery are found in Rules 26 – 37 and Rule 45 of the Indiana Rules of Trial Procedure. Here are some common types of discovery requests:

• Requests for Admission are statements that the opposing party needs admit, deny, or admit in part. They may look like this:
  • Admit that from May 30, 2020, to December 1, 2023, the Plaintiff, John Doe, was an employee of your business, Food Mart, Inc.
• Interrogatories are requests for information for which the other party needs to provide a substantive response. They may look like this:
  • List all jobs that you have held from January 1, 2020 to December 31, 2024, and include: the name of the employer, dates of employment, salary and/or hourly wage, and total amount of money earned from that employer.
• Depositions are similar to an interview, where a witness being deposed is asked questions by one or both attorneys representing the parties in a case. However, unlike an interview, the witness’s testimony is sworn under oath, so if the witness lies during the deposition they committed perjury, which could have serious legal consequences.
• Request for Production of Documents is a request sent to the opposing party asking for them to produce certain documents. They may look like this:
  • All written, recorded, and/or signed statements of any person, including the Plaintiffs, Defendant, witnesses, investigators, or any agent, representative, or employee of the parties, concerning the subject matter of this action.
• Subpoenas are usually sent to people or entities who are not a party to the case. Subpoenas may ask someone to appear as a witness, to produce certain physical items or documents, or to both appear as a witness and provide documents.

While the Indiana Trial Rules govern discovery in trial court, there are other laws governing subpoenas that are issued as part of an investigation which is conducted by a state agency or official. In a recent opinion issued by the Indiana Court of Appeals, a subpoena issued as part of an investigation by a state agency or official are not governed by the Indiana Trial Rules. Instead, investigative subpoenas issued by agencies or officials are analyzed under a reasonableness standard which comes from the Fourth Amendment of the U.S.  Constitution (Opinion, pg. 6). If you are facing an investigation by a state agency, this is an important nuance to be aware of when challenging the reasonableness of a subpoena.

Important: The information in this post is for informational purposes only and should not be taken as legal advice for a particular situation.