North Dakota requests for admission: two signatures, and forty-five days for a defendant

North Dakota's Rule 36 is short, and two of its provisions do work that the length disguises. One protects a defendant at the start of a case. The other decides who has to put their name to what.

The responder signs; the lawyer signs the objections

Rule 36(c) is a single sentence that splits a duty most rules leave whole:

The person who responds to the request must sign the response, and the attorney who objects must sign any objections.

Two signatures, on two different things.

The person who responds signs the response. Not "the party or its attorney" — the person answering. The substantive answers, the admissions and denials, carry the signature of whoever made them.

The attorney who objects signs the objections. Objections are a lawyer's work and are signed as such.

That division matters in practice. It is common for a client to supply answers and for counsel to add objections on top, and in many states one signature covers both. Here the document carries a record of who was responsible for which part — and an objection with no attorney signature, or a set of answers with no responder signature, is not a compliant response.

It also means a party cannot hide behind counsel on the substance, and counsel cannot leave the objections unclaimed.

Forty-five days from the summons, for a defendant

Rule 36(a)(3):

A matter is admitted unless, within 30 days after being served, the party to whom the request is directed serves on the requesting party a written answer or objection addressed to the matter and signed by the party or its attorney. A defendant is not required to serve its answer or any objections until 45 days after service of the summons and complaint on it. A shorter or longer time for responding may be stipulated to under Rule 29 or be ordered by the court.

The second sentence is a floor, not an alternative period. A defendant "is not required to serve" before forty-five days from service of process have run — so where requests arrive with or shortly after the summons, the defendant answers on the forty-five-day date rather than thirty days from the requests.

Where requests arrive later in the case, the floor has already passed and the ordinary thirty days govern. The figure to compare is not "45 versus 30" but when the forty-five days from the summons expire against thirty days from service of the requests, and the later of the two is the deadline.

Both periods yield to a Rule 29 stipulation or a court order.

The consequence of missing the deadline is automatic and needs no motion: the matter "is admitted."

When they may be served

Rule 36(a)(2) sets the earliest date, and it differs for the two sides:

A party may serve the request on the plaintiff after commencement of the action and on any other party after service of the summons and complaint on it.

A plaintiff is exposed as soon as the action is commenced. Anyone else has to be served with process first. Read with the forty-five-day floor above, the structure is deliberate: a defendant can be served with requests early, but cannot be made to answer them early.

The same provision requires that each matter be separately stated, and that a request to admit the genuineness of a document "must be accompanied by a copy of the document unless it is, or has been, otherwise made available for inspection and copying."

What may be asked

Rule 36(a)(1) sets the scope in two branches:

A party may serve on any other party a written request to admit, for purposes of the pending action only, the truth of any matters within the scope of Rule 26(b) relating to: (A) facts, the application of law to fact, or opinions about either; and (B) the genuineness of any described documents.

The words "for purposes of the pending action only" appear in the scope provision itself, before any admission is made — so the limited effect of an admission is built into what is being asked, not merely into what follows.

"Opinions about either" is broader than it looks. An opinion about a fact, and an opinion about how the law applies to a fact, are both permitted subjects.

Answering, and the two things that are not answers

Rule 36(a)(4) sets the standard:

If a matter is not admitted, the answer must specifically deny it or state in detail why the answering party cannot truthfully admit or deny it. A denial must fairly respond to the substance of the matter; and when good faith requires that a party qualify an answer or deny only a part of a matter, the answer must specify the part admitted and qualify or deny the rest.

Lack of knowledge is available only on a stated condition — the party may assert it "only if a party states that it has made reasonable inquiry and that the information it knows or can readily obtain is insufficient to enable it to admit or deny."

Objections must carry reasons: "The grounds for objecting to a request must be stated."

And Rule 36(a)(6), under the heading "Matter presenting a trial issue," closes the objection people reach for when a request goes to the heart of the case:

A party must not object to a request solely on the ground that it presents a genuine issue for trial. The party may deny the matter or state why it cannot admit or deny.

The instruction is to answer it. A request that asks a party to admit the central contested fact in the case is a proper request; the response is a denial, not an objection.

An evasive answer can become the admission

Rule 36(a)(7) gives the requesting party a way to test what came back, and the two outcomes are not the same:

The requesting party may move to determine the sufficiency of an answer or objection. Unless the court finds an objection justified, it must order that an answer be served. On finding that an answer does not comply with this rule, the court may order either that the matter is admitted or that an amended answer be served. The court may defer its final decision until a pretrial conference or a specified time before trial. Rule 37(a)(4) applies to an award of expenses.

An objection that fails produces one result: the court "must order that an answer be served."

A non-compliant answer gives the court a choice, and one option is to order that the matter is admitted.

So the risk is asymmetric, and it runs against evasion rather than against objection. A denial that does not fairly respond to the substance of the matter is not merely inadequate — it can be converted into the admission it was drafted to avoid. Rule 37(a)(4) then brings the ordinary expense consequences of a discovery motion.

The court can also postpone the whole question to a pretrial conference or a set time before trial, which is worth knowing before treating a sufficiency motion as a quick route to a ruling.

Conclusively established, subject to Rule 16

Rule 36(b):

A matter admitted under this rule is conclusively established unless the court, on motion, permits the admission to be withdrawn or amended. Subject to Rule 16, the court may permit withdrawal or amendment if it would promote the presentation of the merits of the action and if the court is not persuaded that it would prejudice the requesting party in maintaining or defending the action on the merits.

Two conditions, both required, and a cross-reference that can tighten them. Subject to Rule 16 — once a pretrial order has been entered, its own amendment standard sits on top of this one.

The closing sentence is the limit that makes an admission safe to give: "An admission under this rule is not an admission for any other purpose and cannot be used against the party in any other proceeding."

A short checklist

If you are serving requests:

1. Serve on the plaintiff any time after commencement; on anyone else, after they are served with process.
2. Attach document copies where you ask about genuineness.
3. State each matter separately.
4. Move on a non-compliant answer, not just on an unjustified objection — only the first can produce an admission.
5. Expect the court to be able to defer the sufficiency question to a pretrial conference.
6. Check whether the 45-day floor is still running before treating a response as late.

If you are responding:

1. Get both signatures right — the responder signs the response, the objecting attorney signs the objections.
2. Use the later of the two dates: 45 days from the summons, or 30 days from the requests.
3. Do not object on "genuine issue for trial" alone. Deny, or explain why you cannot.
4. Answer plainly. An evasive denial risks becoming an admission; a clear one does not.

Where these rules live

• N.D. R. Civ. P. 36 — Requests for admission
• Responding to a North Dakota complaint
• North Dakota motion to compel discovery
• North Dakota summary judgment
• North Dakota subpoenas
• North Dakota TROs and injunctions

This page explains what the rules say. It isn't legal advice, and how Rule 16 affects withdrawal after a pretrial order is entered is a question this page does not answer.