Q: Is the Separate Statement of Items in Dispute required for Motion to Compel further responses to special interrogatories

A: Yes, under California law, a Separate Statement is generally required when filing a Motion to Compel further responses to special interrogatories, per California Code of Civil Procedure (CCP) § 2030.300(b). The statute states:

"A motion to compel further response to an interrogatory or to produce a document or tangible thing shall be accompanied by a meet and confer declaration under Section 2016.040, or, when the deposition of a party is taken orally, by a copy of the transcript of the deposition, with the relevant discovery request and response, or in the case of a failure to respond, the relevant discovery request, and a separate statement that provides all of the following information..."

The separate statement must include:

1. The text of the interrogatory

2. The response provided, if any

3. A statement of factual and legal reasons for compelling further responses

4. The text of any definition or instruction included with the interrogatory

However, CCP § 2030.300(b) also provides an exception:

"The court shall allow the moving party to submit a concise outline of the discovery request and each response in dispute rather than a separate statement, if the court finds that the outline satisfies the purposes of a separate statement, and the papers submitted in support of the motion are not voluminous and the number of items in dispute is limited."

So in limited circumstances, if the items in dispute are few and can be concisely included in the points and authorities, the court may allow this in lieu of a full separate statement. But absent court permission, the separate statement is required.