Bar Exam Toolbox Podcast Episode 286: Listen and Learn -- Conclusory Pleadings Under Rule 12(b)(6) (Civ Pro)
Direct Examination: To Lead or Not to Lead
Law School Toolbox Podcast Episode 416: Listen and Learn -- Service of Process (Civ Pro)
Bar Exam Toolbox Podcast Episode 224: Listen and Learn -- Service of Process (Civ Pro)
The Only Rule of Multidistrict Litigation Is...
Bar Exam Toolbox Podcast Episode 208: Listen and Learn -- Motions to Dismiss a Case
Practicing Before the U.S. Supreme Court | Kannon Shanmugam | Texas Appellate Law Podcast
Amended Rules Five Months Later: Early Trends in Case Law and What It Means
Proposed FRCP Changes: Effect on eDiscovery, RIM & IG (CLE)
The Washington Supreme Court recently approved significant revisions to that state’s procedural rules on remote depositions. Revised Rule 30 of the Washington Civil Rules will now allow remote depositions to be noticed...more
In civil litigation, depositions are a key pretrial discovery tool used to uncover facts, obtain admissions, gather evidence for motions, and assess witnesses. They prevent “trial by ambush” by revealing crucial information...more
Ten is the presumptive upper limit on the number of depositions that each party may take in civil litigation in the federal courts. This number, provided by Rule 30(a)(2) of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, can be...more
A corporate deposition authorized by Fed. R. Civ. P. 30(b)(6), and similar state rules[1] is a powerful discovery device with far-reaching implications. Entities served with such a notice face significant burdens to select...more
With the COVID pandemic, remote video depositions and trial testimony very quickly went from rare to routine. Remote testimony, for the most part, is viewed as a convenience to both witnesses and attorneys, and parties and...more
It is not uncommon in litigation for parties to introduce testimony through depositions taken for use at trial. It is very uncommon, though, for a party to request to use their own deposition testimony as their trial...more
Dismissal of a lawsuit is a rare sanction for a discovery violation, but it happened recently in a workplace discrimination lawsuit, due in large part to two probing depositions that called into question one party’s assertion...more
Though typically conducted in a conference room, a deposition can take place in many locations and through a variety of methods. So long as you capture a verbatim record, either face-to-face or remotely through the use of...more
Experienced litigators are familiar with the tension between the federal legal system’s policy favoring liberal pretrial discovery into all relevant matters and the countervailing policy forbidding discovery that is...more
Way back in April 2020, during the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic, a federal magistrate judge in Colorado had already seen enough to offer the following plea that lawyers reassess their habit of traveling long distances...more
Deposition transcripts, like other pretrial discovery materials, do not become public records until they’re filed with the court. Before they are filed with the court, they routinely dwell in obscurity, shielded from public...more
The international law firm McGuire Woods recently published a news note, Virginia Court Holds School Board Immune From Virginia Human Rights Act Claims, explaining how a local school board successfully raised a sovereign...more
No other pretrial discovery process rivals the deposition for its ability to alter the course of civil litigation. Depositions alone bring litigators face-to-face with key witnesses, experts, and the parties themselves in a...more
There are four main ways to conduct a pretrial deposition in modern law practice: the deposition by written question, the in-person deposition, the remote deposition, and the hybrid deposition. Each has its strengths and...more
When the COVID-19 pandemic struck in 2020, experienced litigators quickly discovered that they would have to adapt and learn to thrive in a new adversarial arena — the computer monitor. And adapt they did....more
Can a corporate party affirmatively use deposition testimony from its own 30(b)(6) witness at trial? It depends. Corporate Witness Testimony at the Deposition Stage - A quick primer on corporate witnesses under Federal...more
Until very recently, the rule in many jurisdictions was that any individual could attend a deposition unless the trial court ordered otherwise. Some litigators brought expert witnesses to the deposition of the opposing...more
Does the thought of improperly preparing subpoenas for litigation keep you up at night? Given the heavy workloads and tight deadlines attorneys and paralegals routinely face, it’s all too easy for errors to slip through in...more
Palau is an island archipelago in the Pacific Ocean. The local economy depends on tourism, mainly from visitors interested in snorkeling and scuba diving along its beautiful barrier reefs. Tourism aside, the Palau economy is...more
Introduction- Picture this: you are on-site at a new client’s headquarters for a weeklong hostile work environment investigation into several internal complaints made against the CEO and CFO. This is the first engagement...more
We recently blogged about a case in which a court ruled that a subpoena for a remote deposition did not violate Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 45(c)’s 100-mile limit on subpoenas for non-party witnesses because the deponent...more
A prior post looked at two recent trial court rulings involving claims that witness coaching had occurred during a remote deposition, making the point that litigators can protect their clients against witness coaching by...more
The assumption that videoconference depositions automatically include video is not uncommon. The videoconference software does allow for recording, it is true, but this recording is not automatic. Someone will need to push...more
The necessity to advance civil litigation during the COVID-19 pandemic remains a challenge for counsel, even as positivity and death rates are falling across the United States. Litigators are juggling client meetings, court...more
Rule 30(b)(6) of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, which concerns the use of a deposition notice or subpoena directed to an organization, was amended in December 2020 to require that parties meet-and-confer prior to...more