| (a) Forms of written discovery. Unless otherwise provided
by this section or ordered by the judge, parties may use the forms
of written discovery provided by the TRCP, with the following modifications:
(1) Requests for production. Each party may serve no
more than 25 written requests for production. Each discrete subpart
of a request for production is considered a separate request for production.
(2) Interrogatories. Each party may serve no more than
25 written interrogatories, excluding interrogatories asking a party
only to identify or authenticate specific documents. Each discrete
subpart of an interrogatory is considered a separate interrogatory.
(3) Requests for admissions. Each party may serve no
more than 25 requests for admissions. Requests for admissions may
be used only to address jurisdictional facts or the genuineness of
any documents served with the request.
(4) Requests for disclosure.
(A) The discovery rules of the TRCP requiring initial
disclosures without awaiting a discovery request do not apply to a
contested case under SOAH's jurisdiction, except as may be ordered
or allowed by the judge.
(B) A party may request disclosure of documents or
information that the opposing party has in its possession, custody,
or control, including, but not limited to, the following:
(i) the correct names of the parties to the contested
case; the name, address, and telephone number of any potential parties;
(ii) a general description of the legal theories and
the factual bases of the responding party's claims or defenses, if
not already set forth in a pleading or document filed in the record
of the proceeding at SOAH;
(iii) the name, address, and telephone number of persons
having knowledge of relevant facts, and a brief statement of each
identified person's connection with the case;
(iv) the statement of any person with knowledge of
relevant facts (witness statement) regardless of when the statement
was made; and
(v) a copy, or description by category and location,
of all documents, electronic information, and tangible items that
the disclosing party has in its possession, custody or control and
may use to support its claims or defenses, unless the use would be
solely for impeachment. A request for disclosure made pursuant to
this subsection is not considered a request for production.
(5) Expert Disclosures and Reports. Upon request of
the opposing party, or as otherwise ordered or allowed by the judge,
a party must timely provide the following disclosures for any testifying
expert in advance of a scheduled hearing on the merits:
(A) the expert's name, address, and telephone number;
(B) the subject matter on which the expert will testify;
(C) the general substance of the expert's mental impressions
and opinions and a brief summary of the basis for them, or if the
expert is not retained by, employed by, or otherwise subject to the
control of the responding party, documents reflecting such information;
(D) if the expert is retained by, employed by, or otherwise
subject to the control of the responding party:
(i) all documents, tangible things, reports, models,
or data compilations that have been provided to, reviewed by, or prepared
by or for the expert in anticipation of the expert's testimony;
(ii) the expert's current resume and bibliography;
(iii) the expert's qualifications, including a list
of all publications authored in the previous 10 years;
(iv) a list of all other cases in which, during the
previous four years, the expert testified as an expert at trial or
by deposition; and
(v) a statement of the compensation to be paid for
the expert's study and testimony in the case.
(E) If the discoverable factual observations, tests,
supporting data, calculations, photographs, or opinions of an expert
have not been recorded and reduced to tangible form, the judge may
order these matters reduced to tangible form and produced, in addition
to the deposition of the expert.
(b) Written discovery requests shall be served at least
30 days before the end of the discovery period, unless otherwise specified
by this section or ordered by the judge.
(c) Response. Unless otherwise ordered by the judge
or agreed by the parties, responses to written discovery requests
shall be made within 30 days after receipt.
(1) Responses and documents produced in discovery shall
be served upon the requesting party, and notice of service shall be
given to all parties.
(2) A party producing documents in response to a discovery
request must retain the original documents or exact duplicates of
the original documents.
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