Also known as: discovery depositions · deposition · oral deposition
Written by attorneys · grounded in primary & secondary sources — see below
A deposition taken primarily to obtain information from a witness and to prepare for trial. The witness is expected to give live testimony at trial, so the deposition serves as a preview of that testimony and a source of impeachment material.
Delilah Duran testified at trial that she never saw loose scaffolding. Defense counsel confronted her with her earlier discovery deposition in which she had described warning the site superintendent about the same hazard. Because the deposition statement was inconsistent and given under oath, the court permitted its use as substantive evidence.
Dominic Drake moved to depose a key eyewitness who planned to leave the country. The court denied the motion because no exceptional circumstances existed that would prevent the witness from attending trial. The parties therefore proceeded with ordinary discovery depositions of other employees instead.
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After Daniel Diaz moved abroad and refused to return, the plaintiff offered his discovery deposition transcript from an earlier administrative proceeding. The court admitted the transcript because Diaz was unavailable and the deposition had been taken under oath in a lawful proceeding.
Dawson Steel noticed a discovery deposition of an out-of-state employee without providing the required written notice of date and location. Opposing counsel moved to change the date for good cause, and the court rescheduled the deposition after finding the original notice unreasonable.
During a discovery deposition of Drake Logistics' safety manager, counsel asked about an internal incident report prepared by the company's lawyer. The deponent refused to answer on work-product grounds, and the examining party moved to compel after the court determined the report had been prepared in anticipation of litigation.
Plaintiffs took a discovery deposition of Decker Electronics' CFO to explore statements made in public filings. The testimony revealed that certain earnings projections had been known to be overstated, supplying evidence that the misrepresentations were material to investors.
A discovery deposition allows a party to learn the witness's story in advance, identify impeachment material, and prepare for trial testimony. It is not intended to replace live testimony.
Discovery depositions often involve open-ended questions to explore all possible testimony. Trial depositions are more focused and guarded because they may be read at trial in place of live testimony.
Yes, if the statement meets an exclusion from hearsay such as a prior inconsistent statement given under oath or former testimony when the declarant is unavailable.
…they employed comports with standard scientific procedures. In support of these assertions, plaintiffs offer only the trial and deposition testimony of these experts in other cases. While these materials indicate that plaintiffs' experts have relied on animal studies, chemical structure analyses and epidemiological data, they…