The apex deposition doctrine is a judge-made rule that protects company executives from harassing, repetitive depositions in cases in which the executive has little relevant evidence to provide. Courts applying the doctrine...more
The Washington Supreme Court recently considered whether it would adopt the "apex doctrine." This doctrine is a framework used by some courts to evaluate whether a party may take the deposition of a company's executives and...more
In Stratford v. Umpqua Bank, No. 100717-5 (Sept. 14, 2023) (slip op.), the Washington Supreme Court rejected the application of the “apex doctrine” in Washington. The apex doctrine has been adopted by some jurisdictions to...more
Much of the law is about balancing interests, and pretrial discovery is no exception. On the one hand, parties in litigation are entitled to discovery of any unprivileged information that could lead to admissible evidence at...more
The First Line of Defense Against Plaintiff Overreach - The suit has been filed, the troops have been marshaled, and written discovery is underway. What’s next are the inevitable requests for depositions of current and...more
Late last month, the Florida Supreme Court codified into Florida Rule of Civil Procedure 1.280(h) the “apex doctrine” and declared the doctrine applies with equal force to high-ranking corporate and government officials....more
On 26 August 2021, the Supreme Court of Florida (the Court), on its own motion, issued an opinion amending Florida Rule of Civil Procedure 1.280 (the Opinion). The amendment officially codifies the common-law “Apex Doctrine”...more
On August 26, 2021, the Florida Supreme Court amended the Florida Rules of Civil Procedure to adopt the so-called “apex doctrine” that protects high-level corporate officers from abusive discovery. ...more
It has become an increasingly common tactic for opposing counsel to seek the depositions of top corporate executives. These depositions are generically referred to as apex depositions....more