Circuit Court District Division Rules Table of Contents
A. No notice to the adverse party of the taking of
depositions shall be deemed reasonable unless served at least three days,
exclusive of the day of service and the day of caption, before the day on which
they are to be taken. Provided, however, that twenty days' notice shall be
deemed reasonable in all cases, unless otherwise ordered by the Court. No
deposition shall be taken within twenty days after service of the writ or bill,
except by agreement or by leave of Court for good cause shown.
B. Depositions may not be taken within thirty days of
scheduled trial date.
C. The petition of a party seeking to take a deposition
within the State shall contain the name of the stenographer proposed to record
the testimony. Failure to object in writing to the stenographer within five days
of the filing of the petition for depositions shall be deemed agreement to the
use of the stenographer proposed in the petition.
D. Where the statute requires notice of the taking of
depositions to be given to the adverse party, it may be served on such party, or
served in hand on the attorney of record of such party. In cases where the
action is in the name of a nominal party, and the writ or docket discloses the
real party in interest, service shall be made on the party in interest, or in
hand on the attorney of record of such party. If a subpoena duces tecum is to be
served on the deponent, the notice to the adverse party must be served before
service of the subpoena, and the materials designated for production, as set out
in the subpoena, must be listed in the notice or in an attachment.
E. The interrogatories shall be put by the attorneys and the
interrogatories and answers shall be taken in shorthand or other form of
verbatim reporting approved by the Court and transcribed by a competent
stenographer agreed upon by the parties or their attorneys present at the
deposition. In the absence of such agreement, the stenographer shall be
designated by the Court.
No deposition, as transcribed, shall be changed or altered,
but any alleged errors may be set forth in a separate document attached to the
original and copies.
The magistrate shall cause to be noted any objection to any
interrogatory or answer without deciding its competency. If complaint is made of
interference with any witness, the magistrate shall cause such complaint to be
noted, and shall certify the correctness or incorrectness thereof in the
caption.
Upon motion, the Court may order the filing of depositions,
and, upon failure to comply with such order, the Court may take such action as
justice may require.
F. In civil actions, the signature of a person outside the
State, acting as an officer legally empowered to take depositions or affidavits,
with a seal affixed, where one is required, to the certificate of an oath
administered in the taking of affidavits or depositions, will be prima facie
evidence of authority to act.
G. The deponent, on deposition or on written interrogatory,
shall ordinarily be required to answer all questions not subject to privilege or
excused by the statute relating to depositions, and it is not grounds for
refusal to answer a particular question that the testimony would be inadmissible
at the trial if the testimony sought appears reasonably calculated to lead to
the discovery of admissible evidence and does not violate any privilege.
If any deponent refuses to answer any question propounded on
deposition, or any party fails or refuses to answer any written interrogatory
authorized by these rules, or fails to comply within twenty days after written
request to make discovery or permit inspection, the party propounding the
question or making the request may, upon notice to all persons affected thereby,
apply by motion to the Court for an order compelling an answer, discovery or
inspection. If the motion is granted, and if the Court finds that the refusal
was without substantial justification or was frivolous or unreasonable, the
Court may, and ordinarily will, require the refusing party or deponent and the
party or attorney advising the refusal, or either of them, to pay the examining
or requesting party the reasonable expenses incurred in obtaining the order,
including reasonable counsel fees.
If the motion is denied and if the Court finds that the
motion was made without substantial justification or was frivolous or
unreasonable, the Court may, and ordinarily will, require the examining or
requesting party or the attorney advising the motion, or both of them, to pay to
the refusing party or witness the reasonable expenses incurred in opposing the
motion, including reasonable counsel fees.
H. The Court, within its discretion, with the agreement of
all counsel participating in the trial, may allow the use of video tape
depositions. At the commencement of the video tape deposition, counsel
representing the deponent should state whose deposition it is, what case it is
being taken for, where it is being taken, who the lawyers are that will be
asking the questions, and the date and the time of the deposition. Care should
be taken to have the witnesses speak slowly and distinctly and that papers be
readily available for reference without undue delay and unnecessary noise.
Counsel and witnesses shall conduct themselves at all times as if they were
actually in the courtroom.
If any problem arises as to the admissibility or
inadmissibility of evidence, this should be handled in the same manner as
written depositions.