Any party may obtain discovery by one or more of the following methods:
§ 2019.010.Approved methods
Title 4. Civil Discovery Act · Chapter 5. Methods and Sequence of Discovery · Article 1. General Provisions · Enacted 2004 · no amendments on record · Last verified July 29, 2026
In one sentenceSection 2019.010 lists the six methods a party may use to obtain discovery in a California civil case: oral and written depositions, interrogatories to a party, inspection demands, physical and mental examinations, requests for admission, and expert witness information exchanges.
Full Text of § 2019.010
(a) Oral and written depositions.
(b) Interrogatories to a party.
(c) Inspections of documents, things, and places.
(d) Physical and mental examinations.
(e) Requests for admissions.
(f) Simultaneous exchanges of expert trial witness information.
Plain-English Summary
Every discovery tool available in a California lawsuit traces back to this list. A party can pursue oral and written depositions, send interrogatories to another party, demand inspection of documents, things, and places, seek a physical or mental examination, ask for admissions, or exchange expert witness information. Nothing else counts as a formal discovery method under the Act.
The list itself doesn't say how or when to use each tool; other chapters of the Discovery Act do that work in detail. What this section provides is the menu, the fixed set of options every litigant starts from before deciding which combination fits the case.
Frequently Asked Questions
What discovery methods does California law recognize?
Six: oral and written depositions, interrogatories to a party, inspection demands for documents, things, and places, physical and mental examinations, requests for admission, and expert witness information exchanges.
Can a party invent a discovery method not on this list?
No. Section 2019.010 defines the full set of methods available under the Civil Discovery Act.
Does this section explain how to use each discovery method?
No. It only lists the methods; the chapters and titles that follow set out the specific procedures for each one.
Amendment History
(Added by Stats.2004, c. 182 (A.B.3081), § 23, operative July 1, 2005.)
Source & verification. Section text is reproduced verbatim from
the West's Annotated California Codes / Thomson Reuters. Enacted by the California Legislature.
Last verified July 29, 2026.
· Official source
Also known as: california discovery methods listtypes of civil discovery california