eDiscovery Case Law Podcast: How Failing to Meet and Confer Effectively Can Lead to Sanctions
Bar Exam Toolbox Podcast Episode 305: Spotlight on Civil Procedure (Part 2 – Discovery)
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)
Recent amendments to the federal rules governing pretrial discovery encourage courts to be more aggressive in squelching wasteful discovery practices. Litigators should be mindful that judges are increasingly taking the rules...more
Welcome back to the Bar Exam Toolbox podcast! This is the second of three episodes in which we review the substantive Civil Procedure law we've covered in our "Listen and Learn" series. This time we're talking about...more
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
Revised Minnesota pretrial discovery rules, which took effect Jan. 1, now encourage remote depositions by allowing them to be set by notice alone. Former practice required either a court order or stipulation....more
Noticing a deposition is a critical part of the litigation process. Far from just a formality, it’s an assurance that a deposition you’re engaging in is being done fairly and in good faith. By giving all interested parties...more
The devastating wildfires that raced through southern California these past few weeks caused loss of life, property damage in the billions of dollars, and upheaval in the lives of millions of Americans who live in that...more
The blog post Turning Deposition No-Shows to the Client’s Advantage proved popular with our readers when written (2021!) and for years afterward. The sustained readership of that article is gratifying but also disappointing...more
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