Martifer-Silverado Fund I, LLC v. Zhongli Science and Technology Group Co., Ltd

Background

The parties filed a joint discovery letter brief concerning the first sets of special interrogatories served by Zhongli Science and Technology Group Co., Ltd. and Suzhou Talesun Solar Technology Co., Ltd. on Martifer-Silverado Fund I, LLC. The dispute concerned Martifer-Silverado’s objections to the interrogatories and whether information related to FTP Solar LLC was in Martifer-Silverado’s possession, custody, or control. Fact discovery was scheduled to close on December 1, 2022.

The defendants asked the court to compel further responses to Zhongli’s Special Interrogatories Nos. 1–18 and 21–22, and Suzhou’s Special Interrogatories Nos. 4–7, 10–15, and 17–20.

The parties’ positions

Martifer-Silverado argued that the interrogatories were impermissibly compound, meaning that they improperly combined multiple questions. It also argued that the interrogatories were premature because the defendants had not responded to any fact discovery.

The defendants argued that the interrogatories were not impermissibly compound and that Martifer-Silverado was required to respond because only a limited amount of time remained for fact discovery.

Ruling

Judge Sallie Kim granted the request to compel responses to Zhongli’s and Suzhou’s special interrogatories. The court held that the interrogatories were not impermissibly compound because they sought information about facts, documents, and people supporting discrete topics.

Although the defendants had not responded to any discovery, the court ordered Martifer-Silverado to provide its responses within 30 days. The court also stated that Martifer-Silverado must later supplement those responses if it received information from the defendants.

The court separately ruled that Martifer-Silverado was not required to provide information from third party FTP Solar LLC.