Motion to Rely Upon Failure to Respond to Requests for Admissions
Tennessee Rule of Civil Procedure 36 is clear - a request for admission that is not responded to within 30 days after service is admitted. In a 1986 opinion, however, the Tennessee Supreme Court stated that "admissions under Rule 36 should be brought to the trial court's attention through one of three methods: at a pretrial conference where issues may be eliminated or narrowed, on motion for summary judgment (Rule 56, T.R.C.P.), or by specific motion dealing with the requested admissions." Tennessee Dep't of Human Servs. v. Barbee, 714 S.W.2d 263, 266 (Tenn. 1986). The Supreme Court ruled: "Under the highly unusual circumstances of [Barbee], in order to be certain that the failure to respond would be binding on the Defendant so that Plaintiff need not prepare evidence for trial on the issue involved, Plaintiff should have sought an order deeming the issues to be admitted." Id. at 267.
In light of Barbee, we generally file motions or otherwise bring to the Court's attention a party's failure to respond to requests for admissions, rather than relying on the failure to respond standing alone. Here is an example of a form memorandum of law in support of a motion to rely upon unaddressed requests for admission: