California Deposition Rules and Procedures: Notice, Location, and Conduct

California deposition rules are set out in Code of Civil Procedure sections 2025.010 through 2025.620, and they govern how parties in a civil lawsuit take sworn pretrial testimony from witnesses. Testimony given at a deposition carries the same legal weight as testimony on the witness stand, so the procedural details matter: a defective notice, a late motion, or a missed deadline can mean quashed subpoenas, excluded testimony, or monetary sanctions.

What the Deposition Notice Must Say

Every deposition begins with a written Notice of Deposition served on all parties. The notice must state the date, time, and address of the session, identify the person to be deposed by name or sufficient description, and list any documents or electronically stored information the witness is expected to bring.¹ If you intend to record the testimony by video or audio in addition to stenography, the notice must say so. The same disclosure is required if you want to reserve the right to use a video-recorded deposition of a treating physician or expert at trial.

The deposition must be scheduled at least 10 days after the notice is served.² When you serve the notice by mail within California, add five calendar days under the general mail-service extension rule.³ A defendant can notice a deposition as soon as they are served or appear in the action. A plaintiff must wait until 20 days after the summons is served on any defendant. California does not cap the total number of depositions a party may take, but coordinating dates with opposing counsel before formal service is the standard way to avoid scheduling disputes.

Deposing an Organization or a Non-Party

To depose a company, government agency, or other entity rather than a named individual, describe the topics you want covered with reasonable particularity. The organization must then designate one or more people most qualified to testify on those topics, drawing on information known or reasonably available to the entity.⁴ The entity bears the burden of preparing its designee; an unprepared witness can lead to sanctions or an order for a second deposition at the organization’s expense.

A deposition notice is enough to compel a party, but a non-party witness must be served with a deposition subpoena.⁵ If you also need records or other materials, a subpoena duces tecum specifies what to produce.

Where the Deposition Has to Take Place

The location rule protects witnesses from excessive travel. A deposition of an individual must take place either within 75 miles of the witness’s residence, or within the county where the lawsuit is pending so long as that location is within 150 miles of the witness’s home. The noticing party picks between the two.² Notice a location outside those boundaries and expect objections that will stall the proceeding until a compliant site is set.

Remote attendance is now broadly available. Either the witness or the deposing party may elect to have the deposition officer attend remotely, and the witness does not need to be in the same room as the court reporter to be sworn in.⁶ Attorneys and parties may appear in person at the witness’s location but are not required to. Choosing remote attendance does not waive any other deposition rule, including the location and timing requirements. Courts can issue procedural orders governing how remote depositions are conducted in a particular case.

How Long a Deposition Can Last

Actual testimony is limited to seven hours, not counting meal or rest breaks.⁷ The court can extend the cap when more time is needed to fairly examine the witness or when someone’s conduct has impeded questioning. The parties may also agree in writing to waive the limit.

Several categories fall outside the seven-hour rule:

Depositions of expert witnesses designated under CCP 2034.210 through 2034.310.
Depositions of a person most knowledgeable designated by an organization under CCP 2025.230.
Cases designated as complex under California Rules of Court, Rule 3.400, though a special two-day, 14-hour limit applies if the witness has a serious medical condition.
Lawsuits by employees or job applicants against employers for employment-related claims.
A party who joins the case after a deposition has already concluded may notice a new deposition of the same witness, subject to the standard limit.⁷

Conduct in the Room

A certified deposition officer, typically a court reporter, puts the witness under oath before questioning begins.⁸ Everything the witness says from that point on carries the legal weight of trial testimony. The noticing attorney questions first, and other counsel cross-examine.

Most objections are simply stated on the record, and the witness still answers. A judge rules on the objection later if the testimony is offered at trial or in a motion. An attorney should instruct a witness not to answer only when the question invades a genuine privilege such as attorney-client communications or constitutionally protected privacy rights. Coaching through speaking objections or signaling answers invites sanctions.

Protective Orders

Before, during, or after a deposition, any party, the witness, or any other affected person can move for a protective order. The motion must include a declaration showing a good-faith attempt to resolve the dispute informally first. On a showing of good cause, the court has broad authority to shape or restrict the deposition. Common orders include blocking the deposition entirely or rescheduling it, limiting the scope of questioning, excluding specific people other than parties and their counsel, shielding trade secrets or confidential business information, or terminating an examination in progress so it cannot resume without a court order.⁹ The court can also direct a different recording method or require written questions instead of an oral examination.

Recording and Transcript Review

Unless the parties agree otherwise or the court orders a different method, testimony is taken stenographically by a certified shorthand reporter, and that transcript is the official record.⁸ Video or audio recording can be layered on top, but only if the notice disclosed that intent.¹

After the deposition, the reporter prepares the transcript and notifies the witness that it is ready. The witness has 30 days to review it, correct errors in form or substance on a separate errata sheet, and either sign it or decline to sign. The parties and the witness can agree to lengthen or shorten the review period. Substantive changes, like reversing a yes to a no, give opposing counsel material for an impeachment at trial. If the witness does not return the transcript in time, the unsigned transcript can be used as though it were signed.¹⁰ The original signed transcript goes to the attorney who noticed the deposition, who must safeguard it until the case is resolved.

Motions to Compel and Sanctions

When a witness fails to appear, refuses to answer, or will not produce requested documents, the remedy is a motion to compel. The track depends on what happened.

If a party or party-affiliated witness fails to appear at all, the deposing party can move for an order compelling attendance. The motion must include either a meet-and-confer declaration or a statement that you contacted the no-show to find out why. When the court grants the motion, it must impose monetary sanctions on the absent witness or affiliated party for the reasonable expenses and attorney’s fees caused by the failure, unless the absence was substantially justified.¹¹ Any party who showed up expecting testimony can also seek sanctions for wasted time.

If the witness appeared but refused to answer specific questions, you file a separate motion to compel an answer. That motion must be made within 60 days after the deposition record is completed and must include a meet-and-confer declaration.¹² The 60-day deadline is unforgiving. Miss it and the right to compel the answer is gone.

California sanctions for discovery abuse escalate: monetary sanctions covering the other side’s reasonable expenses and fees; issue sanctions treating certain facts as established against the offending party; evidence sanctions barring the offending party from introducing specific evidence; terminating sanctions striking pleadings, staying proceedings, dismissing the case, or entering default judgment; and contempt sanctions.¹³ Terminating sanctions are reserved for the worst conduct and generally follow a history of lesser orders. Monetary sanctions are routine. If you lose a motion to compel, the court must impose monetary sanctions against you unless your position was substantially justified.

Using Deposition Testimony at Trial

Deposition transcripts are not automatically admissible. How you can use them depends on the circumstances and who gave the testimony.¹⁴

Any party can use a deposition to contradict or impeach a witness whose trial testimony differs from what they said under oath in discovery. Beyond impeachment, an adverse party can use the deposition of any opposing party, or that party’s officer, director, employee, or organizational designee, for any purpose, even if the person is available to testify live.¹⁴

For a non-party witness, you can use the deposition for any purpose if the court finds one of these:

The witness lives more than 150 miles from the trial location.
The witness is dead, too ill to testify, or otherwise unable to attend.
The witness is absent and you could not secure attendance by subpoena despite reasonable effort.
Exceptional circumstances make it just to allow the deposition in place of live testimony.

Video-recorded depositions of treating physicians and experts get special treatment. You can play them at trial even when the expert is available in person, provided the original notice reserved that right and the recording complied with statutory requirements.¹⁴ If one side introduces only part of a deposition, the opposing party can require additional portions needed for context.

1
California Legislative Information. California Code CCP 2025.220 – Deposition Notice Contents
2
Justia Law. California Code of Civil Procedure 2025.210-2025.280 – Deposition Notice
3
California Legislative Information. California Code CCP 1013 – Extension of Time for Service by Mail
4
California Legislative Information. California Code of Civil Procedure 2025.230
5
California Legislative Information. California Code of Civil Procedure 2020.010
6
California Legislative Information. California Code of Civil Procedure 2025.310
7
California Legislative Information. California Code of Civil Procedure CCP 2025.290
8
Justia Law. California Code of Civil Procedure 2025.330 – Deposition Officer Duties
9
California Legislative Information. California Code of Civil Procedure 2025.420
10
California Legislative Information. California Code of Civil Procedure 2025.520
11
California Legislative Information. California Code of Civil Procedure 2025.450
12
California Legislative Information. California Code CCP 2025.480 – Motion to Compel Answer at Deposition
13
California Legislative Information. California Code of Civil Procedure 2023.030
14
California Legislative Information. California Code of Civil Procedure 2025.620