Deposition (law)

A deposition in the law of the United States, or examination for discovery in the law of
Canada, involves the taking of sworn, out-of-court oral testimony of a witness that may be
reduced to a written transcript for later use in court or for discovery purposes.[1] Depositions
are commonly used in litigation in the United States and Canada. They are almost always
conducted outside court by the lawyers themselves, with no judge present to supervise the
examination.

History

Depositions by written interrogatories first appeared around the mid-15th century as a

procedure for discovery, factfinding, and evidence preservation in suits in equity in English
courts.[2][3] They differed radically from modern depositions in three ways: (1) the party
seeking a witness's testimony merely propounded written interrogatories which were read out
loud by a master or court-appointed commissioner to the witness in a closed proceeding
without parties or counsel present; (2) the witness's first-person oral answers under oath
were not recorded verbatim, but were summarized by the master, commissioner, or a clerk
appointed by them into a third-person continuous narrative; and (3) the resulting written
product (also called a "deposition") was filed with the court under seal and its contents were
not revealed or "published" to the parties until shortly before trial.[2][3][4]

The modern deposition by oral examination began to develop in New York in the early 19th
century when Chancellor James Kent of the New York Court of Chancery allowed masters to
actually examine witnesses (that is, pursue lines of questions in real time based on the
witness's preceding answers) rather than read static interrogatories (which tended to be
broadly worded and resulted in very inefficient depositions). He also allowed parties and
counsel to be present during depositions. This meant depositions were no longer secret and
led to counsel insisting on taking over the examinations themselves. These developments
gradually spread across the United States[3] and Canada.[2]

During the late 19th century, summary narratives by court-appointed examiners were
replaced by verbatim transcripts by court reporters. Finally, the merger of common law and
equity procedure led to the adoption of live testimony in open court as the default method of
taking trial evidence in all trials (equity had used depositions by written interrogatories in lieu
of live testimony), which reduced the deposition to its modern role in American civil
procedure as a discovery and evidence preservation device.[3]

By country

Canada

In Canada, the process is nearly identical to that followed in the United States, but the
proceeding is called an examination for discovery.[5] Typically, the questions for the witness
will be a mixture of direct questions and cross-examinations on prior statements.[6] While
most of the same objections to form are applicable as in the United States, the witness's
lawyer may additionally take certain questions "under advisement" as a means of delaying
answering the question, without making a formal objection.[7]

The process is considered in Canada to be time-consuming and expensive when conducted

without limits. As a result, Rule 31.05.1 of the Ontario Rules of Civil Procedure has, since
January 1, 2010, limited examinations for discovery to seven hours per party except with
consent of the other parties or the leave of the court.[8] British Columbia implemented similar
reforms on July 1, 2010, although the new Rule 7-2(2) can be read in two ways, it appears to
be that each party can examine each other party for a maximum of seven hours unless the
court orders otherwise.[9] The alternative reading is that each party is only to be examined for
a maximum of seven hours.

China

In mainland China, it is generally illegal to take depositions for use in foreign courts.[10][11]

United States

Deposition is the preferred term in U.S. federal courts and in the majority of U.S. states. In
some unusual situations, depositions can be taken during or even after trial.[12]

Civil procedure
In almost all cases pending in United States federal courts, depositions are carried out under
Rule 30 of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure. About 35 states use versions of the FRCP in
their state courts. Other states have discovery rules that are set out either in court rules or
statutes, and which vary somewhat from one state to another. According to FRCP Rule 30,
the number of depositions is limited to ten depositions per side (i.e. plaintiffs and
defendants), with deposition of each deponent limited to a single day of no more than seven
hours (unless specified otherwise in local rules of the district).[13]

Expert witness deposition in a mock trial simulation. The court reporter, who is an officer of the court, administers the
oath to the deponent.

The person to be deposed (questioned) at a deposition, known as the deponent, is usually

notified to appear at the appropriate time and place by means of a subpoena. Frequently the
most desired witness (the deponent) is an opposite party to the action. In that instance, legal
notice may be given to that person's attorney, and a subpoena is not required. But, if the
witness is not a party to the lawsuit (a third party) or is reluctant to testify, then a subpoena
must be served on that party.[14] To ensure an accurate record of statements made during a
deposition, a court reporter is present and typically transcribes the deposition by digital
recording or stenographic means. Depending upon the amount in controversy and the ability
of the witness to appear at trial, audio or video recordings of the deposition are sometimes
taken as well.

Conduct of depositions

Depositions usually take place at the office of the court reporter or in the office of one of the
law firms involved in a case. However, depositions are also sometimes taken at a witness's
workplace or home, or in a nearby hotel's conference room. Generally, the deposition is
attended by the person who is to be deposed, their attorney, court reporter, and other parties
in the case who can appear personally or be represented by their counsels. Any party to the
action and their attorneys have the right to be present and to ask questions.

Prior to taking a deposition, the court reporter administers the same oath or affirmation that
the deponent would take if the testimony were being given in court in front of a judge and
jury. Thereafter, the court reporter makes a verbatim digital or stenographic record of all that
is said during the deposition, in the same manner that witness testimony is recorded in court.
Some jurisdictions allow stenomask technology in lieu of traditional stenographic equipment,
although many jurisdictions still prohibit stenomask because of its disconcerting effect on
some lawyers and witnesses.

Attorneys for the deposing litigant are often present, although this is not required in all
jurisdictions. The attorney who has ordered the deposition begins questioning of the
deponent (this is referred to as "direct examination" or "direct" for short). Since nods and
gestures cannot be recorded, the witness is instructed to answer all questions aloud. After
the direct examination, other attorneys in attendance have an opportunity to cross-examine
the witness. The first attorney may ask more questions at the end, in re-direct, which may be
followed by re-cross.

During the course of the deposition, one attorney or another may object to questions asked.
In most jurisdictions, only two types of objections are allowed: The first is to assert a
privilege and the second is to object to the form of the question asked. Objections to form
are frequently used to signal the witness to be careful in answering the question. Since the
judge is not present, all other objections, in particular those involving the rules of evidence,
are generally preserved until trial. They still can be made sometime at the deposition to
indicate the serious problem to judge and witness, but the witness must answer the question
despite these objections. If the form objection is made, the opposite party still has the right
to re-phrase the same question and ask it again. Indeed, in Texas, lawyers were so
aggressively using objections to indirectly coach their witnesses on the record that all
objections outside four narrow categories are now prohibited and making such prohibited
objections waives all objections to the question or answer at issue. California is the major
"outlier" on deposition objections; under the California Civil Discovery Act as enacted in 1957
and heavily revised in 1986, most objections must be given on the record at the deposition
(and must be specific as to the objectionable nature of the question or response) or they are
permanently waived.[15]

As with oral examination at trial, depositions can become heated at times, with some
attorneys asking harassing questions to provoke witnesses into losing their tempers, some
witnesses giving evasive answers, and occasional use of profane language. In extreme
situations, one side or the other may ask the reporter to mark the record, then may suspend
the deposition, demand a rush transcript, and file an emergency motion to compel a
response, for a protective order, or for sanctions. Some courts have magistrates or discovery
commissioners who are on call for such contingencies, and the parties are supposed to use
them to referee such disputes over the telephone or via email before resorting to filing
motions. In extreme circumstances where the relationship between the lawyers, parties, or
witnesses has totally broken down, the court may require the use of a discovery referee who
will have authority to sit in on depositions and rule immediately on objections as they are
presented, may order that all further depositions take place in court in the presence of a
judge, or may grant terminating sanctions if the record is already clear as to which party or
attorney is responsible for the breakdown in civility.

Parties can bring documents to the deposition and ask document identification questions to
build a foundation for making the documents admissible as evidence at trial, as long as the
deponent admits their authenticity. The court reporter and all parties in the case are usually
provided a copy of the documents during the deposition for review.

In recent years, developments in litigation technology has allowed the use of paper
documents to be replaced by electronic documents and exhibits in the deposition.[16] In such
cases, the examining attorney marks and distributes the official exhibits electronically using
a laptop or tablet device. The deponent, court reporter, and all parties receive digital official
exhibits or courtesy copies. Combined with live transcript feed technology and legal
videography, digital exhibit technology has made participation in remote depositions more
functional and popular.[17]

Under FRCP 30(d)(1) and its state counterparts, a deposition normally must take place for no
longer than seven hours on one day per each deponent, unless otherwise stipulated by the
parties or ordered by the court. The deposing party who knows that a deposition will require
more than seven hours on one day must either ask the deponent to stipulate to more time, or,
if the deponent is uncooperative, promptly file a motion for a longer deposition. For many
years, California was the major exception to this rule, in that its Civil Discovery Act had no
default time limit; depositions could theoretically proceed indefinitely, or at least until the
deposition became so obviously excessive and burdensome that the deponent was able to
move for a protective order. However, in January 2013, the California legislature amended the
Civil Discovery Act to fall in line with the federal rule, by requiring that depositions will
typically be limited to seven hours of total testimony.[18] It is worth noting that this new rule
does not apply to "any case brought by an employee or applicant for employment against an
employer for acts or omissions arising out of or relating to the employment relationship."[18]
Example page from stenographers copy of an expert's deposition from Anderson v. Cryovac[19]

After the deposition, the transcript is then published in the form of a hardcopy booklet, which
is provided to the deponent as well as to any party to the suit who wishes to purchase a copy.
The booklet will have the case caption (the name of the court, case number, and names of
the parties) on the front. Inside, the pages have line numbers along the left margin, so that
the parties can precisely cite testimony by page and line in later court documents.
Timestamps are inserted into the margin if a video recording is being made; in the event the
witness is unavailable for trial, the parties or the court will use the timestamps to identify
admissible segments which a video editor will stitch together to present to the jury. A
concordance is automatically generated by the stenographic system's software and included
in the back of the booklet. Finally, the booklet includes the court reporter's certificate in which
they formally certify the truth and accuracy of the transcript. (In some states, the court
reporter is also a notary public.) Most court reporters can also provide a digital copy of the
transcript in ASCII, RealLegal, and PDF formats.

The court reporter also keeps a copy of the documents provided to the deponent during the
deposition for document identification questions, unless digital document and exhibit
technology is employed, in which case the deponent and all parties receive the official
exhibits in real time. The deponent normally has the right to read and sign the deposition
transcript before it is filed with the court. The deponent cannot change his testimony as
recorded by the court reporter in the deposition transcript, but under rule 30(e) the deponent
can correct on an additional "errata sheet" any mistakes in the deposition transcript shortly
after the transcript has been typed and bound.[20]
The errata sheet allows the deponent to make any modifications that make "changes in form
or substance," giving the deponent the option to alter their record from the original transcript.
Issues may arise where a party attempts to make substantive changes to testimony through
errata sheets.[20][21]

Use of depositions

The chief values of obtaining a deposition, as with any discovery proceeding, is to give all
litigant parties in a contested case a fair preview of the evidence, and to provide support
documents for further trials and dispositive motions. The process provides a "level playing
field" of information among the litigants and avoids surprises at trial (traditionally regarded
as an unfair tactic).[22] Another benefit of taking depositions is to preserve a witness's
recollection while it is still fresh, since the trial may still be months or years away. When a
witness's testimony in open court is inconsistent with that given at deposition, a party can
introduce the deposition to impeach (or contradict) the witness. In the event a witness is
unavailable for trial (usually because they are deceased, seriously ill, or live hundreds of miles
away), their deposition may be read or played before the jury and made part of the record in
the case, with the same legal force as live testimony. In some states, stenographic, audio, or
video records of depositions can be offered into evidence even if the witness is available.
Deposition of the opposite party is often used to produce self-incriminating statements from
the deponent, also document identification questions can make exhibits admissible for
hearings and summary judgment motions.

Sometimes, after a number of witnesses have been deposed, the parties will have enough
information that they can reasonably predict the outcome of a prospective trial, and may
decide to arrive at a compromise settlement, thus avoiding trial and preventing additional
costs of litigation. Accordingly, while most depositions are not videotaped, opposing counsel
may use the opportunity to get an impression of the witness's affect and appearance,
because these are telling factors as to how that person will present in front of a jury.
Furthermore, deposition transcripts are frequently submitted in support of motions for
summary judgment as evidence that there is no triable issue of fact. The moving party may
use transcripts to argue that even if all the testimony given at deposition was given again at
trial, no reasonable factfinder could find in the opponent's favor on a material issue of fact.
The rationale is that generally, a witness must give consistent testimony on all material
issues of fact both at deposition and at trial (unless there is a very good reason for changing
one's answers), or else the inconsistencies can and will be used to impeach his credibility.

Criminal procedure

In some United States jurisdictions, depositions may be taken in criminal cases, for reasons
that vary between jurisdictions. In federal criminal cases, Federal Rules of Criminal Procedure
Rule 15 governs the taking of depositions. Each state has its own laws which govern the
taking of depositions.

Most jurisdictions provide that depositions may be taken to perpetuate the testimony of a
witness, that is, preserve their testimony for trial.[1] If the person requested to testify
(deponent) is a party to the lawsuit or someone who works for an involved party, notice of
time and place of the examination before trial can be given to the other side's attorney, but if
the witness is an independent third party, a subpoena must be served on him/her if he/she is
recalcitrant. This occurs when a witness may not be able to testify at trial. The deposition of
the witness is taken and, if the witness is unable to appear at trial, the deposition may be
used to establish the witness' testimony in lieu of the witness actually testifying. Regarding
depositions to preserve testimony, the Confrontation Clause of the Sixth Amendment to the
United States Constitution establishes a constitutional right of the defendant to be present
during the deposition and to cross-examine the witness. The defendant may waive this right.

Some jurisdictions provide that depositions may be taken for purposes of discovery. In these
jurisdictions, the defendant does not have a constitutional right to be present, although such
a right may be established by statute.

Some jurisdictions require that because of the sensitive nature of taking a deposition of a
minor, it must be videotaped.

A defendant in a criminal case may not be deposed without his consent because of the Fifth
Amendment right to not give testimony against oneself.

See also

subpoena duces tecum

subpoena ad testificandum

Section 1782 Discovery

Request for admission

References

1. Larson, Aaron (11 November 2017). "What is a Deposition" (https://www.expertlaw.com/library/civil-

litigation/what-deposition) . ExpertLaw.com. Retrieved 27 December 2017.

2. Goldstein, Alan K. (1981). "A Short History of Discovery". Anglo-American Law Review. 10 (4): 257–
270. doi:10.1177/147377958101000404 (https://doi.org/10.1177%2F147377958101000404) .
S2CID 184613750 (https://api.semanticscholar.org/CorpusID:184613750) . Available through
HeinOnline.
 3. Kessler, Amalia (July 2005). "Our Inquisitorial Tradition: Equity Procedure, Due Process, and the
Search for an Alternative to the Adversarial" (https://scholarship.law.cornell.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cg
i?article=3001&context=clr) . Cornell Law Review. 90 (5): 1181–1276. Retrieved 15 April 2019.

4. Falvey, Heather (2018). "Relating Early Modern Depositions". In Griffin, Carl J.; McDonagh, Briony
(eds.). Remembering Protest in Britain since 1500: Memory, Materiality, and the Landscape (https://
www.google.com/books/edition/Remembering_Protest_in_Britain_since_150/6oZjDwAAQBAJ?hl=e
n&gbpv=1&pg=PA85&printsec=frontcover) . Cham, Switzerland: Springer Nature. pp. 81–106.
Retrieved 24 October 2021. Available through SpringerLink.

5. Morissette, Yves-Marie. "Examination for Discovery" (http://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.com/arti

cles/examination-for-discovery) . The Canadian Encyclopedia. Retrieved 2009-08-16.

6. "Rules of Civil Procedure, R.R.O. 1990, Reg. 194" (https://www.canlii.org/en/on/laws/regu/rro-1990-r

eg-194/latest/rro-1990-reg-194.html#sec31.06subsec1_smooth) . CanLII. Lexum. Retrieved
18 September 2019.

7. Robinson, Alex (21 August 2017). " "Taking questions under advisement must stop" " (https://www.la
wtimesnews.com/news/general/taking-questions-under-advisement-must-stop/262672) . Law
Times News. Retrieved 18 September 2019.

8. "Rules of Civil Procedure, R.R.O. 1990, Reg. 194" (https://www.canlii.org/en/on/laws/regu/rro-1990-r

eg-194/latest/rro-1990-reg-194.html) . CanLII. Lexum. Retrieved 27 December 2017.

9. "Supreme Court Civil Rules: Part 1 — Interpretation: Rule 1-1 — Interpretation" (http://www.bclaws.c
a/EPLibraries/bclaws_new/document/ID/freeside/168_2009_01) . Queen's Printer. Province of
British Columbia. Retrieved 27 December 2017.

10. "China Judicial Assistance Information" (https://travel.state.gov/content/travel/en/legal/Judicial-As

sistance-Country-Information/China.html) . travel.state.gov. Retrieved 17 November 2021.

11. "Litigation and enforcement in China: overview" (https://uk.practicallaw.thomsonreuters.com/8-502-

1965) . Practical Law. Retrieved 17 November 2021.

12. "Fundamentals of Depositions" (http://www.nysba.org/WorkArea/DownloadAsset.aspx?

id=43634) . New York State Bar Association. p. 346. Retrieved 12 December 2017.

13. "Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, Rule 30. Depositions by Oral Examination" (https://www.law.cornel
l.edu/rules/frcp/rule_30) . Legal Information Institute. Cornell Law School. Retrieved 27 December
2017.

14. "Subpoena to Testify at a Deposition in a Civil Action" (http://www.uscourts.gov/forms/notice-lawsui

t-summons-subpoena/subpoena-testify-deposition-civil-action) . United States Courts. Retrieved
27 December 2017.

15. "California Code of Civil Procedure" (http://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/codes_displaySection.xh

tml?lawCode=CCP&sectionNum=2025.460.) . California Legislative Information. California State
Legislature. Retrieved 27 December 2017.
16. Kennedy, Shawn (12 January 2016). "Nothing To Fear In Using Digital Exhibits" (https://abovethelaw.
com/2016/01/nothing-to-fear-in-using-digital-exhibits/) . Above the Law. Retrieved 27 December
2017.

17. "4 Reasons To Use Electronic Deposition Exhibits" (https://www.law360.com/articles/714625/4-rea

sons-to-use-electronic-deposition-exhibits) . Law360. 21 October 2015. Retrieved 27 December
2017.

18. "California Code of Civil Procedure, Sec. 2025.290" (http://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/codes_di

splaySection.xhtml?lawCode=CCP&sectionNum=2025.290.) . California Legislative Information.
California State Legislature. Retrieved 27 December 2017.

19. "Stenographers copy of an expert's deposition in Anderson v. Cryovac landmark case" (http://serc.ca
rleton.edu/woburn/resources/Trial_testimony.html) .

20. Audet, William M.; Fanady, Kimberly A. (8 September 2014). "Why, When & How to Correct a
Deposition Transcript Under the Federal Rules" (https://jamespublishing.com/2014/correct-depositi
on-transcript-federal-rules/) . James Publishing. Retrieved 27 December 2017.

21. Aprahamian, Michael J.; Beringer, Jesse L. "Out of Sight, Not out of Mind: Deposition Ethics and Best
Practices" (https://www.wisbar.org/newspublications/wisconsinlawyer/pages/article.aspx?volume=
88&issue=5&articleid=24070) . Wisconsin Lawyer. Wisconsin State Bar. Retrieved 27 December
2017.

22. Wise, Robert K.; Wooten, Kenneth L. (2016). "The Practitioner's Guide to Properly Taking and
Defending Depositions Under the Texas Discovery Rules" (https://www.baylor.edu/law/review/doc.p
hp/270986.pdf) (PDF). Baylor Law Review. 68: 405.

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