(See Fed. R. Civ. P. 30)
LR 30-1 Depositions - Generally
(a) Not Filed With the Court (See LR 5-9)
Unless directed by the Court, deposition transcripts will not be filed with the Court. Instead, they will be maintained by counsel and made available to parties in accordance with Fed. R. Civ. P. 30(b). Deposition transcripts presented for filing without approval will be returned to the offering party.
(b) Use of Non-Filed Depositions
This rule does not preclude the use of deposition transcripts as exhibits or evidence in support of a motion, or for introduction and use at trial.
(c) Availability of Copies to Non-Parties
With leave of court during the pendency of a civil action, any person may obtain a copy of a deposition transcript not on file provided they:
- Serve notice of their request and proposed order on all parties;
- Receive approval; and
- Pay the cost for a copy of the deposition.
LR 30-2 Notice of Deposition
Except for good cause, counsel will not serve a notice of deposition until they have made a good faith effort to confer with all counsel regarding a mutually convenient date, time, and place for the deposition.
LR 30-3 Conduct of Counsel (See Fed. R. Civ. P. 30(c) and (d))
Counsel present at a deposition will not engage in any conduct that would not otherwise be allowed in the presence of a judge.
LR 30-4 Objections (See Fed. R. Civ. P. 30(c)(2))
There should be no argument in response to an objection or an instruction not to answer.
LR 30-5 Pending Questions
If a question is pending, it must be answered before a recess is taken unless the question involves a matter of privacy right, privilege, or an area protected by the constitution, statute, or work product.
LR 30-6 Motions Relating to Depositions (See Fed. R. Civ. P. 30(d)(3))
- If the parties have a dispute that may be resolved with assistance from the Court, or if unreasonable or bad faith deposition techniques are being used, the deposition may be suspended so that a motion may be made immediately and heard by an available judge, or the parties may hold a telephone conference pursuant to LR 16-2(c).
- Alternatively, a written motion relating to the deposition may be filed after a transcript is available.
- The Court may impose costs, including attorney fees, on any person responsible for unreasonable or bad faith deposition techniques or behavior.
| Amendment History to LR 30 | |
|---|---|
| December 1, 2009 | |
| LR 30-1 & LR 30-6 | Corrected text to insert the (missing) word Court. |
| LR 30-4 | Changed the reference from Fed. R. Civ. P. 30(d)(1) to 30(c)(2). |
| LR 30-5 | Grammatical error corrected. |
| LR 30-6 | Changed the reference from Fed. R. Civ. P. 30(d)(3) to 30(d). |
| LR 30.7 | Removed as a rule without a rule. |
| LR 30.8 | Removed as being inconsistent with Fed. R. Civ. P. 26(b)(4). |
| Generally | Cross-references updated. |
| March 1, 2012 | |
| LR 30-1(a) | In first and second sentences, "depositions" has been changed to "deposition transcripts." |
| LR 30-1(c) | In line 1, the term "transcript" has been added following the word "deposition." |
| LR 30-1(c)(3) | The term "transcript" has been added following "deposition." |
| LR 30-3 | "Counsel to a deposition" has been changed to "Counsel present at a deposition." |
| March 1, 2014 | |
| LR 30-1 | Updated cross-reference from "LR 5-2" to "LR 5-10." |
| LR 30-6 | Changed "which" to "that." |
| March 1, 2016 | |
| LR 30-1(a) | Updated cross-reference from "LR 5-10" to "LR 5-11." |
| January 1, 2019 | |
| LR 30-1(a) | In the title, updated the cross-reference from "LR 5-11" to "LR 5-10." |
|
January 21, 2020 |
|
|
LR 30-1(a) |
Updated cross-reference from "LR 5-10" to "LR 5-9." |