Objection to a request for admission seeking a legal conclusion

Proposed Objection

Objection. Responding Party objects to this Request because it seeks an abstract legal conclusion unrelated to the application of law to the specific facts of this action. Requests for admission may address facts, the application of law to fact, or opinions about either, but may not require a party to admit a pure legal conclusion. Fed. R. Civ. P. 36(a)(1)(A). Subject to and without waiving this objection, Responding Party denies the Request.

A request framed as a mixed question of law and fact may be proper under Rule 36, so the objection should be used where the request seeks only an abstract legal proposition rather than applying law to established case facts.[1]