Request for Production
If you need documents, records, bank statements, pictures, or any other tangible piece of evidence to prove the essential elements of your causes of action, you would serve a Request for Production upon the adverse party (or parties) in possession of the items. This request can also be used to gain entry upon land or other property.
Here is a copy of a Request for Production
Note: A Certificate of Mailing is required in Colorado, as proof of service of motions, notices,
and discovery requests; Minnesota’s equivalent form is an Affidavit of Service by Mail.
My statement in the preamble, “pursuant to Rule 34 of the Colorado Rules of Civil Procedure,” is a citation of my ‘legal authority’ to make the request. Whenever a party moves the court or makes a request, and whenever a judge rules on a matter, the party and the judge are required to cite their legal authority on which their action or ruling is based. Without the citations of legal authority, a lawsuit or motion may be deemed frivolous and a judge’s ruling may be deemed arbitrary and therefore void. Also note in the preamble that you need to state specific time-frames and locations (check your state’s rules of civil procedure).
You do not have to make the request for production on a formal court document and the request is not filed right away (in Colorado, not until used in the proceeding), but like most attorneys I like to make the request look official so the recipient takes it seriously.
There are usually limits to how many documents and things of which you can request inspection. In Colorado, “requests for production shall be limited to 20 in number.” So make them count.
Writing a Request for Production is fairly simple and the rules governing this discovery request in your state should be fairly straight-forward.
Next, you’ll learn how to write a Request for Admissions.