Rule 30.Depositions upon oral questions

Rule 30 is the workhorse deposition rule: it covers notice, recording, timing, conduct, and follow-up for depositions by oral questions. A party may depose any party or witness, but not the same witness twice during standard discovery, and not an expert who has already produced a report disclosed under Rule 26(a)(4)(B).

Notice has to be reasonable and in writing, naming the date, time, and place, identifying the witness (or describing the witness or group if the name isn't known), listing any documents to be produced, and naming the officer who will conduct it. The notice also has to designate how the deposition will be recorded — sound, sound-and-visual, or stenographic — and the party choosing the method pays for it; another party can add a second recording method with advance notice. Whoever presides has to open the deposition on the record with the officer's name and address, the date, time, and place, the witness's name, the oath, and who's present, repeating the identifying information at the start of each new recording unit for non-stenographic depositions, and closing with a statement that the deposition is complete. A notice to a party can be paired with a Rule 34 document request; compelling a nonparty witness to attend, and to bring documents, takes a subpoena under Rule 45. Depositions can also be taken remotely, and a remote deposition is treated as occurring where the witness is physically located.

One of the rule's most useful tools is the organizational deposition, commonly called a 30(b)(6) deposition after the paragraph that creates it. A party can name a corporation, partnership, association, or government agency as the deponent, describe the topics for examination with reasonable particularity, and require the organization to designate one or more officers, directors, managing agents, or other representatives to testify on its behalf about matters known or reasonably available to the organization. The organization has 14 days after being served to object in writing, and before the deposition goes forward, the parties must confer in good faith about the listed topics and any objections — an objection not addressed in that conference is waived. If a timely objection can't be resolved before the deposition date, either side can ask the court to sort it out under Rule 37 (or, for a nonparty organization, under Rule 45), and the deposition proceeds only on the topics no one contested.

During questioning, the Utah Rules of Evidence apply as they would at trial, except for Rules 103 and 615. Objections go on the record, but the questioning keeps moving — objections have to be concise and can't be argumentative or suggestive to the witness. A lawyer can instruct a witness not to answer only to preserve a privilege, enforce a court-ordered limit on evidence, or set up a motion for a protective order, and the objecting side can demand a pause to make that motion. Standard-discovery depositions are capped at four hours of questioning for a nonparty and seven hours for a party. After the transcript or recording becomes available, the witness has 28 days to submit a signed statement of changes and the reasons for them, which the officer attaches to the record. The officer is responsible for certifying, sealing, and transmitting the completed record, and for furnishing copies on request. If a party who noticed a deposition doesn't show up, or doesn't serve the subpoena needed to compel a witness, the court can shift the resulting costs and fees to that party. The rule also covers depositions taken in Utah for out-of-state cases, and lets parties stipulate around the default procedures entirely — any time, place, or manner they agree to.