Deposition (law) facts for kids
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. 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. 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.
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 and Canada.
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.
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). 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.
United States
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).
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. However, 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. 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.
