Florida Rule 1.310: Depositions on Oral Examination

Florida Rule of Civil Procedure 1.310 governs depositions on oral examination in state civil cases, letting any party question a witness under oath before trial and preserve the testimony for later use. The rule covers when a deposition can be scheduled, what the notice has to say, how objections work, when a recording can be used, and what happens if the witness or party doesn’t show up.

When You Can Take a Deposition

Once a lawsuit has been filed, any party can depose any person, including another party.¹ There’s one early-case restriction on plaintiffs. If you’re the plaintiff and you want to depose someone within 30 days after serving a defendant, you first need court permission. Two situations lift that restriction:

The defendant has already served a deposition notice or otherwise begun discovery.
Your notice states that the witness is about to leave Florida and will be unavailable unless deposed within the 30 days.¹

Florida does not cap the number of depositions per side. A court can always use its case-management authority to limit discovery, but the rule itself sets no ceiling.

If the witness is incarcerated, you need a court order before scheduling. The court sets whatever conditions it considers appropriate for deposing a prisoner.²

Rule 1.310 only applies once a case has been filed. If you need sworn testimony beforehand, Rule 1.290 provides a separate procedure for perpetuating testimony through a verified petition to the court.

Notice and Subpoenas

The party scheduling the deposition must send written notice to every other party with reasonable lead time. The notice must state:

The time and place of the deposition.
The name and address of the person being deposed, or a general description sufficient to identify the person if the name is unknown.
Any documents the witness is being asked to bring, either attached to the notice or described in it.¹

A notice alone doesn’t compel a non-party witness to appear. You have to serve a subpoena under Rule 1.410. And a non-party can only be required to appear in the county where they live, work, or regularly do business in person, unless the court orders another convenient location.³ That geographic limit matters when a key witness lives across the state from where the case is pending.

Depositions of Organizations

When you need testimony from a corporation, partnership, government agency, or other entity rather than a specific individual, the process changes. Your notice names the entity and describes the topics you want covered with reasonable specificity. The organization then picks one or more people to testify on its behalf about those topics.²

The organization is not required to send the person with the most personal knowledge. What the designated representative must do is show up prepared to give complete, informed answers on the noticed topics, drawing on the organization’s documents, records, and other sources. If the witness can’t answer on subjects the notice listed, the organization has failed its duty under the rule and faces potential sanctions.²

Remote and Recorded Depositions

A deposition may be taken by communication technology if the parties agree or the court orders it, and the court’s order can specify how the remote deposition will run. When a witness is sworn remotely by telephone rather than on video, the oath must be administered by someone physically present with the witness who is qualified to give oaths in that location.²

Any deposition can be audiovisually recorded without court permission or opposing agreement. The party who wants the recording must state that intention in the notice and give the name and address of the camera operator. Any subpoena served on the witness must also identify the recording method.⁴

Several practical requirements go with a video deposition. A court reporter still has to transcribe it unless all parties agree to skip the written transcript. The presiding officer must go on camera at the start to identify the case, state the date, and swear in the witness. The attorney for the party who requested the recording safeguards it, must let the opposing side view it, and must furnish a copy at the requesting party’s expense. The party who ordered the recording pays the initial cost.⁴

Scope of Questioning and Objections

Florida allows broad questioning. Under Rule 1.280, parties can ask about anything relevant to the claims or defenses, so long as the information isn’t privileged. The question doesn’t have to seek admissible evidence itself; it’s enough that it appears reasonably likely to lead to admissible evidence.³

The deposition takes place before an officer authorized to administer oaths, typically a certified court reporter. The officer swears in the witness and records the testimony, either personally or through someone working under the officer’s direction and in the officer’s presence.¹ The attorney who noticed the deposition conducts direct examination, and other attorneys cross-examine. The rules of evidence apply as they would at trial.

All objections must be stated concisely and in a way that is neither argumentative nor suggestive. An objection that effectively coaches the witness on how to answer violates the rule even when the legal ground is sound.¹ After an objection, the witness still answers. The objection is preserved for the court to rule on later.

An attorney may instruct a witness not to answer only in three narrow situations:

To protect a recognized privilege, such as attorney-client or spousal privilege.
To enforce a specific evidence limitation the court has already ordered.
To suspend the deposition long enough to file a motion to terminate or limit the examination.¹

Instructions not to answer outside those three grounds are presumptively improper and can trigger sanctions.

Stopping a Deposition That Goes Off the Rails

If a deposition turns abusive or the questioning strays into improper territory, any party or the witness can ask the court to shut it down. Under Rule 1.310(d), the court can order the deposition stopped or limit its scope if it’s being conducted in bad faith, or in a way that unreasonably annoys, embarrasses, or oppresses the witness. The same motion is available when opposing counsel is making improper objections or instructing the witness not to answer in violation of the rules.¹

Any party or the witness can demand that the deposition be suspended for the time needed to bring the motion. If the court terminates the deposition, it can resume only by court order. Rule 1.380(a) governs expenses on the motion, so the losing side typically pays the other side’s reasonable costs and attorney fees.

Reviewing, Signing, and Filing the Transcript

After the testimony is transcribed, the witness gets a chance to review it, either by reading it or having it read aloud. If the witness wants to change the form or substance of any answer, the changes go on a written list with the reason for each, attached to the transcript rather than altering the original.¹

The witness then signs. If the witness doesn’t sign within a reasonable time, the officer signs and notes why: waiver, illness, unavailability, or refusal. A deposition signed only by the officer can still be used as fully as a witness-signed one, unless the court finds circumstances that warrant rejecting it in whole or in part.¹ Both the witness and all parties can waive review and signing altogether.

The officer certifies that the witness was properly sworn and that the transcript is accurate, then seals the original. Florida disfavors routinely filing discovery with the court, so a deposition is filed only if a party requests it or the court orders it. When filed, it must be in full-page format unless the court authorizes a condensed version. Any party or the witness can obtain a copy from the officer by paying reasonable charges.

Sanctions for Not Showing Up

Skipping your own deposition carries serious consequences. Under Rule 1.380(d), if a party, an officer or managing agent of a party, or an organization’s designated witness fails to appear after being properly noticed, the court can impose escalating sanctions:

Treat the matters the deposition would have covered as established in favor of the other side.
Bar the no-show party from supporting or opposing specific claims, or from introducing certain evidence.
Strike pleadings, stay proceedings until the party complies, dismiss the case, or enter a default judgment.³

On top of any of those, the court must require the no-show party to pay the other side’s reasonable expenses, including attorney fees, unless the failure was substantially justified or an award would be unjust.³ The expense award is not discretionary; the rule uses “shall.”

Using a Deposition at Trial

Florida Rule 1.330 controls when deposition testimony is admissible at trial or in other court proceedings:⁵

Any deposition can be used to contradict or challenge the credibility of the witness if they testify at trial.
The deposition of a party, or of a corporate officer, director, managing agent, or designated representative of an opposing party, can be used by the other side for any purpose.
Any witness’s deposition can be used for any purpose if the witness is dead, more than 100 miles from the trial location, out of state, too ill or infirm to attend, in prison, or otherwise unable to be brought in by subpoena.
The deposition of an expert or skilled witness can be used by any party for any purpose.
The court may allow deposition use when justice requires it, giving appropriate weight to the importance of live testimony.⁵

A fairness safeguard applies. If one party reads only part of a deposition into the record, the opposing party can require them to introduce any other portion that should be considered alongside it, which prevents pulling testimony out of context.

1
The Florida Bar. Florida Rule of Civil Procedure 1.310 – Depositions Upon Oral Examination
2
Justia Law. In Re Amendments to Florida Rules of Civil Procedure – SC2023-1678
3
The Florida Bar. Florida Rules of Civil Procedure (April 1, 2026)
4
The Florida Bar. Florida Rules of Civil Procedure – Rule 1.310 Depositions Upon Oral Examination
5
The Florida Bar. Florida Rules of Civil Procedure (August 29, 2024)