Does FL Rule 1.340 (a) limit interrogatories to 30 per service or in total?

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Jurisdiction

Florida

FL Rule 1.340 (a) says... Other interrogatories may be added to the approved forms without leave of court, so long as the total of approved and additional interrogatories does not exceed 30. Does this mean that 30 is the final universal total or just per notice of service?

 

[Tax Counsel]

FL Rule 1.340 (a) says... Other interrogatories may be added to the approved forms without leave of court, so long as the total of approved and additional interrogatories does not exceed 30. Does this mean that 30 is the final universal total or just per notice of service?

It's 30 total to each party during the entire lawsuit unless you get leave to ask more. So if you serve one set of interrogatories to Party B with 15 questions then you have just 15 more questions you may ask in future interrogatories to Party B. And if the court has a form for the particular interrogatory you are doing, you must use that first and those questions count towards the 30 you can ask. So if the form asks 20 questions, you may only ask 10 more.

 

[zddoodah]

This is a reference to Rule 1.340(a) of the Rules of Civil Procedure, correct?

If so, it's important for context to include the two sentences prior to the one you quoted:

"The interrogatories must not exceed 30, including all subparts, unless the court permits a larger number on motion and notice and for good cause. If the supreme court has
approved a form of interrogatories for the type of action, the initial interrogatories on a subject included within must be from the form approved by the court. A party may serve fewer than all of the approved interrogatories within a form. Other interrogatories may be added to the approved forms without leave of court, so long as the total of approved and additional interrogatories does not exceed 30."

Does this mean that 30 is the final universal total or just per notice of service?

The total number of interrogatories that one party may serve on another -- whether they be form interrogatories or otherwise -- without leave of court is 30. You can't get around that by serving multiple sets, each of which includes 30 or fewer.

 

[Star Light]

Thank you guys.