A request for admission is a written discovery device used after a civil action begins. It can ask another party to admit a fact, an application of law to fact, or the genuineness of a described document. In a car-accident lawsuit, the subjects may include identity, ownership, agency, roadway movement, medical-record genuineness, bills, photographs, policy documents, or another matter within the permissible discovery scope.

A request for admission narrows what must be proved in the pending lawsuit; it is not a questionnaire, a demand for a narrative, or proof that a disputed statement is true.

Distinguish admissions from other written discovery

North Carolina Rule of Civil Procedure 36 permits requests concerning matters within Rule 26(b), including statements or opinions of fact, the application of law to fact, and document genuineness. Each matter must be stated separately. Interrogatories instead request sworn written answers, while Rule 34 requests seek documents, electronically stored information, tangible items, or inspection.

  • Request number, exact proposition, defined term, time period, person, vehicle, document, photograph, record, or transaction
  • Whether the request asks for a fact, an application of law to fact, or the genuineness of a specifically described document
  • The source records and people needed for a reasonable inquiry
  • The response deadline, service method, assigned reviewer, and any court order or agreement changing the schedule
  • Admission, denial, qualified response, inability after reasonable inquiry, objection, later correction, and issue remaining for proof

Map every request to the actual source record

A response should not be built from memory alone. Match a driver-identity request to the license, ownership, employment, dispatch, and trip records that bear on the stated proposition. Match a collision-sequence request to photographs, video, measurements, reports, vehicle data, and witness accounts. Match a medical or billing document to the issuing provider, complete record, dates, patient, and custodian information.

Keep contrary material beside the supporting source. A partial record may justify a qualified response rather than an unqualified admission or denial. If information remains unavailable after reasonable inquiry, record the custodians checked, requests sent, responses received, and remaining gap.

Answer the proposition that was actually stated

Rule 36 requires a specific denial or a detailed explanation of why the party cannot truthfully admit or deny. When only part of a matter is accurate, the response should identify the accurate portion and qualify or deny the remainder. An objection should state its reason. A genuine trial dispute is not, by itself, a basis to refuse an answer.

Watch for a request that combines several people, dates, actions, causes, or documents in one proposition. Separate the components in the review sheet even when they appear under one request number. That makes it easier to identify which part is supported, disputed, ambiguous, or outside the available information.

Control the response date and proof of service

Rule 36 supplies response timing subject to the rule, service posture, and any shorter or longer time allowed by the court. Do not use a generic calendar entry. Preserve the request, summons-and-complaint service record when relevant, method of later service, receipt information, computation, extension, order, signed response, and proof of service.

The rule states that an unanswered matter can be admitted. Because an admission is conclusively established for the pending action unless withdrawal or amendment is permitted, a missed or ambiguous response should be escalated and documented promptly rather than treated as a routine clerical issue.

Track challenges, amendments, and later use

Rule 37 addresses expenses when a party later proves a matter that another party failed to admit, subject to the rule’s stated exceptions. Rule 36 also provides a procedure to test the sufficiency of an answer or objection and a separate standard for withdrawal or amendment. Preserve the motion, response, hearing materials, order, amended answer, and prejudice record rather than assuming a change is automatic.

An admission under Rule 36 is for the pending action only. The case file should identify the exact admitted proposition and avoid restating it more broadly in a demand, mediation summary, deposition outline, motion, or trial exhibit. When a document’s genuineness is admitted, separate that point from hearsay, relevance, completeness, medical causation, or the weight the fact-finder may give it.

Maintain an admission-control sheet

  • Request number and exact text, with every incorporated definition
  • Source record, factual owner, contrary information, uncertainty, and inquiry performed
  • Draft and final response, signature, service date, and deadline source
  • Matter admitted, matter still disputed, document genuineness status, and other proof still required
  • Motion, order, withdrawal or amendment, later citation, and final disposition

Rule 26 supplies the broader discovery scope and limitations. The related guide to interrogatories in a North Carolina car-accident lawsuit explains the separate process for sworn narrative answers and source mapping.

Rosensteel Fleishman Car Accident & Injury Lawyers provides information about Charlotte car-accident lawsuits involving written discovery. The actual requests, service record, source material, orders, and current rules determine the required response.

Sources