| name | tx-discovery |
| description | Use when drafting, responding to, or compelling discovery in a Texas civil case. Triggers include "Texas discovery", "discovery control plan Texas", "Level 1 Level 2 Level 3 discovery Texas", "expedited action Texas Rule 169", "required disclosures Texas Rule 194", "interrogatories Texas Rule 197", "how many interrogatories can I serve in Texas", "25 interrogatory limit Texas", "request for production Texas Rule 196", "request for admission Texas Rule 198", "deemed admitted Texas RFA", "deposition Texas Rule 199", "motion to compel Texas Rule 215". Covers the TRCP 190 discovery-control-plan framework (Levels 1/2/3) and expedited actions (TRCP 169), required disclosures (TRCP 194), RFPs (196), interrogatories (197), requests for admission (198, deemed admitted), depositions (199), the TRCP 193.7 self-authentication of produced documents, the 30-day response window, and the motion-to-compel / sanctions workflow under TRCP 215. Texas ALLOWS written interrogatories.
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| version | 0.1.0 |
Texas Discovery
NOT LEGAL ADVICE. This skill helps draft and respond to
discovery. Verify against the current Texas Rules of Civil Procedure,
the court's local rules, and any docket-control or scheduling order
before serving or filing.
Use this skill alongside tx-statewide-format, tx-law-references,
and (where applicable) tx-first-30-days. The Texas civil discovery
framework lives in TRCP 190–215 and applies in the District Court
and the County Courts at Law. (Justice-court discovery is sharply
limited and runs under TRCP Part V — see tx-county-courts.) Pull the
verbatim rule text from ../tx-law-references/references/court-rules/
before serving or responding.
Texas allows written interrogatories
Texas permits the full toolkit of party discovery — written
interrogatories, requests for production, requests for admission, and
depositions — without leave of court, subject to the limits of the
governing discovery control plan. The response window for written
discovery is generally 30 days (with nuances noted below — confirm
the exact count and triggers against the corpus).
★ The discovery control plan — TRCP 190
Every Texas case is assigned to one of three discovery levels under
TRCP 190, and the level governs the discovery period and the limits
on each device:
| Level | What it is |
|---|
| Level 1 — TRCP 190.2 | Expedited actions and certain other limited cases (tied to TRCP 169, for claims at or below the statutory ceiling). Tight discovery period and per-side limits — e.g., capped deposition hours, capped interrogatories. Confirm the current dollar ceiling and the per-side limits against the corpus. |
| Level 2 — TRCP 190.3 | The default plan when no Level 1 or Level 3 plan governs. The discovery period runs for a set time keyed to the first deposition or the trial setting, with the standard per-side limits. |
| Level 3 — TRCP 190.4 | A court-ordered, tailored plan — the parties or the court craft a docket-control order setting the discovery period, limits, and deadlines for the specific case (common in complex matters). |
Identify the governing level before serving anything. The level
sets the discovery-period cutoff and the numeric limits; serving
beyond them without leave is objectionable. Pull the day counts and
per-side limits for the operative level from the corpus.
Expedited actions — TRCP 169
A suit for monetary relief at or below the statutory ceiling
(exclusive of interest, costs, and attorney fees — confirm the current
ceiling against the corpus) is an expedited action under TRCP
169, automatically on Level 1 discovery, with a limited discovery
period, limited per-side discovery, and a trial-setting requirement.
Pleading a higher relief range removes the case from the expedited
track.
Required disclosures — TRCP 194
TRCP 194 requires initial disclosures without a discovery
request. Under the amendment effective January 1, 2021, disclosures
are now automatic / initial-disclosure style (modeled on the
federal approach): each party must, within the rule's window after the
first answer is filed, disclose the categories of information TRCP
194.2 lists — the parties' correct names, potential parties, legal
theories and factual bases, the amount and method of calculating
damages, witnesses, documents, insurance, and settlement agreements.
Additional disclosures for testifying experts (TRCP 194/195) and
pretrial disclosures follow on their own schedules. Confirm the current
window and the 194.2 list against the corpus.
Requests for Production — TRCP 196
TRCP 196 requests documents, electronically stored information
(ESI), and tangible things, and may seek entry onto land for
inspection. The responding party produces documents as kept in the
usual course of business or organized to correspond to the request's
categories, and responds within 30 days after service (a party may
not serve RFPs before its own answer is due in some postures — confirm
the timing against the corpus). ESI is produced in a reasonably
usable form; address form-of-production and metadata by agreement,
consistent with TRCP 196.4 and the proportionality limits of TRCP 192.
Interrogatories — TRCP 197
Written interrogatories to a party are governed by TRCP 197.
- Numeric cap. Under TRCP 197.1 a party may serve no more
than 25 written interrogatories, excluding interrogatories asking a
party only to identify or authenticate specific documents, counting
each discrete subpart as a separate interrogatory. (Levels 1 and 3
may impose a different cap — confirm the operative limit and the
subpart-counting rule against the corpus before serving a large
set.)
- Responses — 30 days. Answers are served separately and fully, in
writing under oath, within 30 days after service (TRCP
197.2), with each objection stated specifically. A responding
party may answer by producing business records under TRCP 197.2(c)
on the rule's conditions.
INTERROGATORIES
Pursuant to Tex. R. Civ. P. 197, [Defendant] requests that [Plaintiff]
answer the following Interrogatories separately and fully, in writing
under oath, within 30 days after service.
INTERROGATORY NO. 1: State the name, address, and telephone number of
each person with knowledge of relevant facts, and describe the subject
of that knowledge.
ANSWER: [Response]
Requests for Admission — TRCP 198
- Critical — deemed admitted. Under TRCP 198.2(c) a matter is
deemed admitted, without the necessity of a court order, unless
the responding party serves a written answer or objection within
30 days after service. Calendar RFA deadlines carefully — a
missed deadline can concede dispositive facts.
- A party may move to withdraw or amend a deemed admission under
TRCP 198.3 on the rule's conditions (the merits are served and
the requesting party is not unduly prejudiced) — but do not rely on
withdrawal; answer on time.
Depositions — TRCP 199
- TRCP 199 governs oral depositions; serve reasonable written
notice of the time, place, and deponent (TRCP 199.2). The per-side
deposition limits (hours / number) are set by the discovery level
— confirm against the corpus.
- For an organization deposition under TRCP 199.2(b)(1),
describe the matters for examination with reasonable particularity so
the entity can designate a witness.
- Depositions on written questions (TRCP 200), depositions to perpetuate
testimony (TRCP 202), and non-party / out-of-state depositions
(TRCP 201, 205) have their own mechanics — confirm in the corpus.
- Remote / video depositions are permitted; state the method on the
notice.
Scope and proportionality — TRCP 192
Discovery extends to any matter not privileged that is relevant to
the subject matter of the action, with the proportionality limits
of TRCP 192.4 (a court may limit discovery that is unreasonably
cumulative, obtainable more conveniently elsewhere, or whose burden
outweighs its likely benefit). Privileged matter and work product are
protected; assert a privilege expressly and serve a withholding
statement / privilege log under TRCP 193.3.
Self-authentication of produced documents — TRCP 193.7
Useful in debt and contract cases. Under TRCP 193.7, a
document a party produces in response to written discovery is
authenticated for use against that party in any pretrial proceeding
or at trial — unless, within 10 days (or a longer or shorter
time the court allows) after the producing party has actual notice
that the document will be used, the party objects to authenticity and
states the specific basis. Confirm the current notice/objection
window against the corpus. This rule lets a party use the opponent's
own produced records without a sponsoring witness, and a debt
defendant should watch the objection clock when a debt buyer produces
account records.
Motion to compel and sanctions — TRCP 215
If a party fails to respond, responds evasively, or lodges improper
objections, move to compel under TRCP 215 (specifically TRCP 215.1
for the motion to compel and TRCP 215.2 for failure to comply with an
order). Texas conditions discovery relief on a good-faith effort to
resolve the dispute, and the motion should:
- Identify the specific deficiencies (which interrogatory / RFP /
RFA / disclosure, and why the response is inadequate).
- Attach the requests and responses as exhibits.
- State a certificate of conference describing the good-faith
attempt to resolve the dispute without court action.
- Address each objection on the merits.
- Request specific relief: an order compelling responses by a date
certain, plus an award of reasonable expenses.
Subject: Certificate of Conference re: Discovery Responses —
[Case Short Title], Cause No. [Number]
[Name], this is my good-faith effort to confer under Tex. R. Civ. P.
215 before I file a Motion to Compel. Your responses to my First Set
of Interrogatories and Requests for Production, served on [DATE], are
deficient as follows:
1. Interrogatory No. 3 — Boilerplate objection without specifying the
vague term or quantifying the burden.
2. Request for Production No. 7 — No documents produced though the
petition references documents within this request.
3. Request for Admission No. 2 — Evasive non-answer.
Please supplement by [date]. If I do not hear from you, I will proceed
with a Motion to Compel and seek expenses under Rule 215. [Name]
A motion to compel is set for hearing or submission — see tx-hearings
and tx-schedule-hearing.
Sanctions ladder
- On a granted motion to compel, TRCP 215.1 authorizes an award of
the reasonable expenses, including attorney fees, caused by the
failure, unless the resistance was substantially justified.
- For disobedience of a discovery order, TRCP 215.2 escalates
to stronger sanctions — up to striking pleadings, deeming matters
established, prohibiting evidence, dismissal, or default judgment
(the most severe "death-penalty" sanctions require the conduct and
the sanction to be appropriately matched).
- TRCP 215.4 addresses the consequences of failing to admit under
Rule 198, and TRCP 193.6 can exclude evidence not timely
disclosed.
Verify the current subpart lettering against the verbatim TRCP 215 text
in ../tx-law-references/references/court-rules/.
Composition
- For drafting the motion to compel:
tx-draft-motion
- For the supporting affidavit / unsworn declaration:
tx-draft-declaration
- For the notice of hearing / setting on the motion:
tx-draft-note,
tx-schedule-hearing
- For statewide format:
tx-statewide-format
- For deadline arithmetic (the 30-day response window, the discovery-
level cutoff, and the TRCP 21a service add-on):
tx-deadlines
- For venue:
tx-hcdc, tx-dcdc, tx-county-courts
- For consumer-debt RFP / RFA banks, debt-buyer chain-of-title
discovery, and attacking the TRE 902(10) business-records affidavit:
tx-consumer-debt
References
references/interrogatory-templates.md — TRCP 197 templates (25-cap)references/rfp-templates.md — TRCP 196 templatesreferences/rfa-templates.md — TRCP 198 templatesreferences/disclosure-checklist.md — TRCP 194 initial-disclosure
checklistreferences/deposition-notice.md — TRCP 199 notice scaffoldreferences/motion-to-compel.md — TRCP 215 scaffoldreferences/conference-templates.md — certificate-of-conference
templates
