Legal Definitions - responsive

In legal terms, responsive describes an action, statement, or document that directly addresses and answers the specific question, request, or issue that has been raised. It means providing a pertinent and direct reply, rather than avoiding the point or offering irrelevant information.

• Imagine a lawsuit where a plaintiff claims a company failed to deliver goods as promised. When the company files its official reply to the court, known as an "answer," it must be responsive. This means the company's answer must directly address each specific allegation made by the plaintiff, such as whether a contract existed, if goods were delivered, and if the delivery was timely. It would not be responsive if the company's answer instead discussed unrelated marketing strategies or the plaintiff's personal life.

• During the discovery phase of a lawsuit, one party might send a request for documents, asking for all emails exchanged between two specific employees regarding a particular project. For the other party's production of documents to be responsive, they must provide the requested emails. If they instead provide emails about a completely different project or general company newsletters, those documents would not be considered responsive to the specific request.

• Consider an administrative hearing where a government agency is investigating a complaint about a business's compliance with environmental regulations. If the agency asks the business owner to explain their waste disposal procedures, a responsive answer would detail the actual methods and protocols used for waste disposal. It would not be responsive if the owner instead talked about their company's charitable donations or the general economic climate.