Antonio Garcia v. LHM SWH, LLC, doing business as LHM Southwest Hyundai Albuquerque; Liberty Mutual Insurance Company; and Hyundai Capital America, doing business as Hyundai Motor Finance

Summary

The United States District Court for the District of New Mexico granted in part and denied in part as moot, without prejudice, Plaintiff Antonio Garcia’s motion to compel Liberty Mutual Insurance Company to provide complete discovery responses. The court ordered Liberty Mutual to provide a supplemental response to Interrogatory 4 concerning the factual bases, documents, and witnesses supporting its affirmative defenses, but declined to award fees.

Holdings

1. A party must provide a complete substantive response to an interrogatory seeking the factual basis for its affirmative defenses and identifying supporting documents and witnesses; it may not rely on the assertion that its defenses are self-explanatory or on a general reservation of the right to amend or withdraw them.
2. If a party later becomes aware of facts, witnesses, or documents supporting an affirmative defense, it must supplement its discovery response within the period required by the governing discovery order; if it cannot provide evidentiary support for a defense, it may withdraw that defense.
3. The court declined to award fees because each party's position concerning the motion was reasonable.

Questions Presented

1. Whether a party may respond to an interrogatory seeking the factual basis, documents, and witnesses supporting affirmative defenses by referring generally to the pleadings and reserving the right to amend or withdraw defenses.
2. Whether Liberty Mutual was required to supplement its response if it later became aware of facts, witnesses, or documents supporting its defenses.
3. Whether either party was entitled to fees for the motion to compel.

Disposition

other