What might occur if a defendant fails to respond to a request for admission in a negligence case?

In a negligence case, if a defendant fails to respond to a request for admission within the specified time frame, the consequences are significant. Specifically, the plaintiff can seek to have the matters in the request for admission deemed admitted by the court. This means that the court will treat the statements in the request as if they were true, which can have substantial implications for the outcome of the case.

If the admissions relate to critical facts that establish the defendant's liability, the plaintiff may effectively use these admissions to obtain a summary judgment in their favor. This allows the plaintiff to bypass the necessity of presenting further evidence on those issues during trial, simplifying their case considerably.

Other choices might imply misunderstandings of procedural rules. For example, denials or contempt would not typically arise from a mere failure to respond in this context, and a case cannot simply be dismissed automatically due to a lack of response to a request for admission. Rather, the direct result of such inaction is that the plaintiff may take advantage of the situation to strengthen their position in court.