What is the test for making a request for admission?

Requests for admission are not restricted to facts or documents, but apply to conclusions, opinions, and even legal questions. (See 2 Witkin, supra, 174 at p. 1164; Burke v. Superior Court of Sacramento County (1969) 71 Cal.2d 276, 282, 78 Cal.Rptr. 481, 455 P.2d 409.) Thus, requests for admission serve to narrow discovery, eliminate undisputed issues, and shift the cost of proving certain matters. As such, the requests for admission mechanism is not a means by

[235 Cal.App.4th 354]

which a party obtains additional information, but rather a dispute-resolution device that eliminates

[185 Cal.Rptr.3d 338]

the time and expense of formal proof at trial. (See Hansen v. Superior Court (1983) 149 Cal.App.3d 823, 829, 197 Cal.Rptr. 175 [Such requests are a useful and important part of the dispute-resolution mechanism....] )