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Rule 59.01 – Request for and Effect of Admissions [Effective until August 2, 2021]

May 13, 2021 | Civil Procedure, Missouri

(a) Scope. After commencement of an action, a party may serve upon any other party a written request for the admission, for purposes of the pending action only, of the truth of any matters within the scope of Rule 56.01(b) set forth in the request that relate to statements or opinions of fact or of the application of law to fact, including the genuineness of any documents described in the request.

A failure to timely respond to requests for admissions in compliance with this Rule 59.01 shall result in each matter being admitted.

The request for admissions shall have included at the beginning of said request the following language in all capital letters, boldface type, and a character size that is as large as the largest character size of any other material in the request:

“A FAILURE TO TIMELY RESPOND TO REQUESTS FOR ADMISSIONS IN COMPLIANCE WITH RULE 59.01 SHALL RESULT IN EACH MATTER BEING ADMITTED BY YOU AND NOT SUBJECT TO FURTHER DISPUTE.”

(b) Effect of Admission. Any matter admitted under this Rule 59.01 is conclusively established unless the court on motion permits withdrawal or amendment of the admission.

Subject to the provisions of Rule 62.01 governing amendment of a pre-trial order, the court may permit withdrawal or amendment when the presentation of the merits of the action will be subserved thereby and the party who obtained the admission fails to satisfy the court that withdrawal or amendment will prejudice the party in maintaining the action or defense on the merits.

Any admission made by a party under this Rule 59.01 is for the purpose of the pending action only and is not an admission by the party for any other purpose nor may it be used against the party in any other proceeding.

(c) Issuance.

(1) Form. In consecutively numbered paragraphs, the request shall set forth each matter for which an admission is requested. Copies of documents about which admissions are requested shall be served with the request unless copies have already been furnished. The title shall identify the party to whom the request for admissions are directed and state the number of the set of requests directed to that party.
(2) When Requests May be Served. Without leave of court, requests may be served on:

(A) A plaintiff after commencement of the action,
(B) A defendant or respondent upon the expiration of 30 days after the first event of the defendant entering an appearance or being served with process, and
(C) Any other party with or after the party was served with process, entered an appearance, or filed a pleading.
(3) Service. Copies of the requests shall be served on all parties not in default. The party issuing the requests shall also provide each responding party an electronic copy in a commonly used medium, such as a diskette, CD-ROM or as an e-mail attachment, in a format that can be read by most commonly used word processing programs, such as Word for Windows or WordPerfect 5.x or higher. In addition to the information normally in a certificate of service, the certificate of service shall also state the:

(A) Name of each party who is to respond to the requests;
(B) Number of the set of requests,
(C) Format of the electronic copy and the medium used to transmit the electronic copy to the responding party.

At the time of service, a certificate of service, but not the requests, shall be filed with the court as provided in Rule 59.01(d).

(d) Response. The requests shall be answered by each party to whom they are directed.

(1) When Response is Due. Responses shall be served within 30 days after the service of the requests for admissions. A defendant or respondent, however, shall not be required to respond to requests for admissions before the expiration of 60 days after the earlier of the defendant:

(A) Entering an appearance, or
(B) Being served with process.

The court may allow a shorter or longer time.

(2) Form. The title of the response shall identify the responding party and the number of the set of the requests for admissions. The response shall quote each request, including its original paragraph number, and immediately thereunder specifically:

(A) Admit the matter; or
(B) Deny the matter; or
(C) Object to the matter and state each reason for the objection; or
(D) Set forth in detail the reasons why the responding party cannot truthfully admit or deny the matter.

A denial shall fairly meet the substance of the requested admission.

When good faith requires that a party qualify an answer or deny only a part of the matter of which an admission is requested, the party shall specify so much of it as true and qualify or deny the remainder.

A responding party may give lack of information or knowledge as a reason for failure to admit or deny if such party states that the party has made reasonable inquiry and the information known or readily obtainable by the party is insufficient to enable the party to admit or deny.

A party who considers that a matter of which an admission has been requested presents a genuine issue for trial may not, on that ground alone, object to the request; such party may deny the matter, subject to the provisions of Rule 61.01(c), or set forth reasons why the party cannot admit or deny it.

(3) Objections and Privileges. If an objection is asserted, then each reason for the objection shall be stated. If a failure to admit or deny a request is based on a privilege or the work product doctrine, then without revealing the protected information, the objecting party shall state information that will permit others to assess the applicability of the privilege or work product doctrine.
(4) Signing. The response shall be signed by the party or the party’s attorney.
(5) Service. The party to whom the requests were directed shall serve a signed original of the response and objections, if any, on the party that issued the requests and a copy upon all parties not in default. The certificate of service shall state the name of the party who issued the requests and the number of the set of requests.

At the time of service, a certificate of service, but not the response, shall be filed with the court as provided in Rule 59.01(d).

(e) Filing Request and Responses. The request and response thereto shall not be filed with the court except upon court order or contemporaneously with a motion placing the request in issue. However, both when the request and the response are served the party serving them shall file with the court a certificate of service. Each party filing a certificate shall maintain a copy of the document that is the subject of the certificate until the case is finally disposed.
(f) Enforcement. The party who has requested the admissions may move to have determined the sufficiency of the answers or objections. Unless the court determines that an objection is proper, it shall order that an answer be served. If the court determines that an answer does not comply with the requirements of this Rule 59.01, it may order either that:

(1) The matter is admitted, or
(2) An amended answer be served.

The provisions of Rule 61.01(c) apply to the award of expenses incurred in relation to the motion.

Mo. R. Civ. P. 59.01

Adopted March 29, 1974, effective January 1, 1975. Amended June 1, 1993, effective January 1, 1994;Dec. 30, 1994. Amended June 21, 2005, effective January 1, 2006. Amended December 22, 2009, effective July 1, 2010.