Tex. R. Civ. P. 193

WRITTEN DISCOVERY: RESPONSE; OBJECTION; ASSERTION OF

sha256 740f02b46429521ee08a172962c19583… · retrieved 7/15/2026, 8:28:46 PM · Supreme Court of Texas official rules PDF — txcourts.gov, verbatim · awaiting human verification flip (text is verbatim; the flip is the review gate)

RULE 193. WRITTEN DISCOVERY: RESPONSE; OBJECTION; ASSERTION OF
PRIVILEGE; SUPPLEMENTATION AND AMENDMENT; FAILURE TO TIMELY
RESPOND; PRESUMPTION OF AUTHENTICITY
193.1 Responding to Written Discovery; Duty to Make Complete Response.
A party must respond to written discovery in writing within the time provided by court order or
these rules. When responding to written discovery, a party must make a complete response, based
Page 124
on all information reasonably available to the responding party or its attorney at the time the
response is made. The responding party's answers, objections, and other responses must be
preceded by the request or required disclosure to which they apply.
193.2 Objecting to Written Discovery
(a) Form and time for objections. A party must make any objection to written discovery in
writing - either in the response or in a separate document - within the time for response.
The party must state specifically the legal or factual basis for the objection and the extent
to which the party is refusing to comply with the request.
(b) Duty to respond when partially objecting; objection to time or place of production.
A party must comply with as much of the request to which the party has made no objection
unless it is unreasonable under the circumstances to do so before obtaining a ruling on the
objection. If the responding party objects to the requested time or place of production, the
responding party must state a reasonable time and place for complying with the request
and must comply at that time and place without further request or order.
(c) Good faith basis for objection. A party may object to written discovery only if a good
faith factual and legal basis for the objection exists at the time the objection is made.
(d) Amendment. An objection or response to written discovery may be amended or
supplemented to state an objection or basis that, at the time the objection or response
initially was made, either was inapplicable or was unknown after reasonable inquiry.
(e) Waiver of objection. An objection that is not made within the time required, or that is
obscured by numerous unfounded objections, is waived unless the court excuses the waiver
for good cause shown.
(f) No objection to preserve privilege. A party should not object to a request for written
discovery on the grounds that it calls for production of material or information that is
privileged but should instead comply with Rule 193.3. A party who objects to production
of privileged material or information does not waive the privilege but must comply with
Rule 193.3 when the error is pointed out.
193.3 Asserting a Privilege
A party may preserve a privilege from written discovery in accordance with this subdivision.
(a) Withholding privileged material or information. A party who claims that
material or information responsive to written discovery is privileged may withhold
the privileged material or information from the response. The party must state--in
the response (or an amended or supplemental response) or in a separate document-
-that:
Page 125
(1) information or material responsive to the request or required disclosure has
been withheld,
(2) the request or required disclosure to which the information or material
relates, and
(3) the privilege or privileges asserted.
(b) Description of withheld material or information. After receiving a response
indicating that material or information has been withheld from production, a party
seeking discovery may serve a written request that the withholding party identify
the information and material withheld. Within 15 days of service of that request,
the withholding party must serve a response that:
(1) describes the information or materials withheld that, without revealing the
privileged information itself or otherwise waiving the privilege, enables
other parties to assess the applicability of the privilege, and
(2) asserts a specific privilege for each item or group of items withheld.
(c) Exemption. Without complying with paragraphs (a) and (b), a party may
withhold a privileged communication to or from a lawyer or lawyer's representative
or a privileged document of a lawyer or lawyer's representative
(1) created or made from the point at which a party consults a lawyer with a
view to obtaining professional legal services from the lawyer in the
prosecution or defense of a specific claim in the litigation in which
discovery is requested or required, and
(2) concerning the litigation in which the discovery is requested or required.
(d) Privilege not waived by production. A party who produces material or
information without intending to waive a claim of privilege does not waive that
claim under these rules or the Rules of Evidence if - within ten days or a shorter
time ordered by the court, after the producing party actually discovers that such
production was made - the producing party amends the response, identifying the
material or information produced and stating the privilege asserted. If the producing
party thus amends the response to assert a privilege, any party who has obtained
the specific material or information must promptly return the specified material or
information and any copies pending any ruling by the court denying the privilege.
193.4 Hearing and Ruling on Objections and Assertions of Privilege.
(a) Hearing. Any party may at any reasonable time request a hearing on an objection or claim
of privilege asserted under this rule. The party making the objection or asserting the
privilege must present any evidence necessary to support the objection or privilege. The
Page 126
evidence may be testimony presented at the hearing or affidavits served at least seven days
before the hearing or at such other reasonable time as the court permits. If the court
determines that an in camera review of some or all of the requested discovery or required
disclosure is necessary, that material or information must be segregated and produced to
the court in a sealed wrapper within a reasonable time following the hearing.
(b) Ruling. To the extent the court sustains the objection or claim of privilege, the responding
party has no further duty to respond to that request or required disclosure. To the extent the
court overrules the objection or claim of privilege, the responding party must produce the
requested or required material or information within 30 days after the court's ruling or at
such time as the court orders. A party need not request a ruling on that party's own objection
or assertion of privilege to preserve the objection or privilege.
(c) Use of material or information withheld under claim of privilege. A party may not
use--at any hearing or trial--material or information withheld from discovery under a claim
of privilege, including a claim sustained by the court, without timely amending or
supplementing the party's response to that discovery.
193.5 Amending or Supplementing Responses to Written Discovery.
(a) Duty to amend or supplement. If a party learns that the party's response to written
discovery was incomplete or incorrect when made, or, although complete and correct when
made, is no longer complete and correct, the party must amend or supplement the response:
(1) to the extent that the written discovery sought the identification of persons with
knowledge of relevant facts, trial witnesses, or expert witnesses, and
(2) to the extent that the written discovery sought other information, unless the
additional or corrective information has been made known to the other parties in
writing, on the record at a deposition, or through other discovery responses.
(b) Time and form of amended or supplemental response. An amended or supplemental
response must be made reasonably promptly after the party discovers the necessity for such
a response. Except as otherwise provided by these rules, it is presumed that an amended or
supplemental response made less than 30 days before trial was not made reasonably
promptly. An amended or supplemental response must be in the same form as the initial
response and must be verified by the party if the original response was required to be
verified by the party, but the failure to comply with this requirement does not make the
amended or supplemental response untimely unless the party making the response refuses
to correct the defect within a reasonable time after it is pointed out.
193.6 Failing to Timely Respond - Effect on Trial
(a) Exclusion of evidence and exceptions. A party who fails to make, amend, or supplement
a discovery response, including a required disclosure, in a timely manner may not introduce
in evidence the material or information that was not timely disclosed, or offer the testimony
Page 127
of a witness (other than a named party) who was not timely identified, unless the court
finds that:
(1) there was good cause for the failure to timely make, amend, or supplement the
discovery response; or
(2) the failure to timely make, amend, or supplement the discovery response will not
unfairly surprise or unfairly prejudice the other parties.
(b) Burden of establishing exception. The burden of establishing good cause or the lack of
unfair surprise or unfair prejudice is on the party seeking to introduce the evidence or call
the witness. A finding of good cause or of the lack of unfair surprise or unfair prejudice
must be supported by the record.
(c) Continuance. Even if the party seeking to introduce the evidence or call the witness fails
to carry the burden under paragraph (b), the court may grant a continuance or temporarily
postpone the trial to allow a response to be made, amended, or supplemented, and to allow
opposing parties to conduct discovery regarding any new information presented by that
response.
193.7 Production of Documents Self-Authenticating
A party's production of a document in response to written discovery authenticates the document
for use against that party in any pretrial proceeding or at trial unless - within ten days or a longer
or shorter time ordered by the court, after the producing party has actual notice that the document
will be used - the party objects to the authenticity of the document, or any part of it, stating the
specific basis for objection. An objection must be either on the record or in writing and must have
a good faith factual and legal basis. An objection made to the authenticity of only part of a
document does not affect the authenticity of the remainder. If objection is made, the party
attempting to use the document should be given a reasonable opportunity to establish its
authenticity.
Notes and Comments
Comment to 1999 change:
1. This rule imposes a duty upon parties to make a complete response to written
discovery based upon all information reasonable available, subject to objections and privileges.
2. An objection to a written discovery does not excuse the responding party from
complying with the request to the extent no objection is made. But a party may object to a request
for “all documents relevant to the lawsuit” as overly broad and not in compliance with the rule
requiring specific requests for documents and refuse to comply with it entirely. See Loftin v.
Martin, 776 S.W.2d 145 (Tex. 1989). A party may also object to a request for a litigation file on
the ground that it is overly broad and may assert that on its face the request seeks only materials
protected by privilege. See National Union Fire Ins. Co. v. Valdez, 863 S.W.2d 458 (Tex. 1993).
Page 128
A party who objects to production of documents from a remote time period should produce
documents from a more recent period unless that production would be burdensome and duplicative
should the objection be overruled.
3. This rule governs the presentation of all privileges including work product. It
dispenses with objections to written discovery requests on the basis that responsive information or
materials are protected by a specific privilege from discovery. Instead, the rule requires parties to
state that information or materials have been withheld and to identify the privilege upon which the
party relies. The statement should not be made prophylactically, but only when specific
information and materials have been withheld. The party must amend or supplement the statement
if additional privileged information or material is found subsequent to the initial response. Thus,
when large numbers of documents are being produced, a party may amend the initial response
when documents are found as to which the party claims privilege. A party need not state that
material created by or for lawyers for the litigation has been withheld as it can be assumed that
such material will be withheld from virtually any request on the grounds of attorney-client
privilege or work product. However, the rule does not prohibit a party from specifically requesting
the material or information if the party has a good faith basis for asserting that it is discoverable.
An example would be material or information described by Rule 503(d)(1) of the Rules of
Evidence.
4. Rule 193.3(d) is a new provision that allows a party to assert a claim of privilege to
material or information produced inadvertently without intending to waive the privilege. The
provision is commonly used in complex cases to reduce costs and risks in large document
productions. The focus is on the intent to waive the privilege, not the intent to produce the material
or information. A party who fails to diligently screen documents before producing them does not
waive a claim of privilege. This rule is thus broader than Tex. R. Evid. 511 and overturns Granada
Corp. v. First Court of Appeals, 844 S.W.2d 223 (Tex. 1992), to the extent the two conflict. The
ten-day period (which may be shortened by the court) allowed for an amended response does not
run from the production of the material or information but from the party’s first awareness of the
mistake. To avoid complications at trial, a party may identify prior to trial the documents intended
to be offered, thereby triggering the obligation to assert any overlooked privilege under this rule.
A trial court may also order this procedure.
5. This rule imposes no duty to supplement or amend deposition testimony. The only
duty to supplement deposition testimony is provided in Rule 195.6.
6. Any party can request a hearing in which the court will resolve issues brought up
in objections or withholding statements. The party seeking to avoid discovery has the burden of
proving the objection or privilege.
7. The self-authenticating provision is new. Authentication is, of course, but a
condition precedent to admissibility and does not establish admissibility. See Tex. R. Evid. 901(a).
The ten-day period allowed for objection to authenticity (which period may be altered by the court
in appropriate circumstances) does not run from the production of the material or information but
from the party’s actual awareness that the document will be used. To avoid complications at trial,
a party may identify prior to trial the documents intended to be offered, thereby triggering the
Page 129
obligation to object to authenticity. A trial court may also order this procedure. An objection to
authenticity must be made in good faith.

Verbatim from the official publication; the only normalization is removal of the publisher's page headers. Verify against the official source for filing-critical use — court publications change without notice.