In a California civil case, the people who can attend a deposition are the witness being deposed, every named party and their attorney of record, the deposition officer (usually a certified court reporter), and any interpreter or videographer the deposition requires. That is the default list under California Code of Civil Procedure Section 2025.310.1California Legislative Information. California Code CCP 2025.310 – Deposition Attendance and Physical Presence Anyone else, including friends, family, journalists, and the public, needs either agreement from all sides or a court order to be in the room.
Parties and Their Attorneys
If you are a plaintiff or defendant, you have the right to be physically present at every deposition taken in the case, not just your own. Section 2025.310(b) says any party or attorney of record may be physically present at the deposition location.1California Legislative Information. California Code CCP 2025.310 – Deposition Attendance and Physical Presence You can sit next to your lawyer, pass notes, and watch how the witness holds up.
Your attorney’s job changes depending on who is in the chair. When another side’s witness is being questioned, your lawyer listens, takes notes, and may cross-examine at the end. When you are the deponent, your attorney is there to object to improper questions, instruct you not to answer in the limited circumstances the law allows (such as questions that invade attorney-client privilege), and keep the questioning within bounds. Opposing counsel runs the questioning.
The Witness and the Deposition Officer
The witness, of course, has to be there. For an individual party or non-party, that is a specific person named in the notice or subpoena. When the deposition is of a corporation, government agency, or other organization, the notice describes the topics, and the organization picks and prepares the people “most qualified” to speak for it on those topics.2California Legislative Information. California Code CCP 2025.230 – Organization Depositions Those representatives speak for the entity, not just from personal recollection, and the organization has to educate them on the noticed topics beforehand.
No deposition can happen without a deposition officer, typically a certified court reporter. The officer administers the oath and creates the official transcript. California sets strict neutrality rules: the officer cannot have a financial interest in the case and cannot be a relative or employee of any party or any party’s attorney. Breaking these rules can bring a civil penalty of up to $5,000.3California Legislative Information. California Code CCP 2025.320 – Deposition Officer Requirements The officer cannot share notes or observations about a witness’s demeanor with any party, and any services provided to one side must be offered equally to all sides at the same time. If you think the officer is unqualified, you have to say so before the deposition starts, or the issue is waived.
Interpreters and Videographers
If the witness does not speak English fluently or is hearing-impaired, a qualified interpreter is necessary. The interpreter must be impartial and translate questions and answers completely and accurately. Counsel is responsible for checking the interpreter’s qualifications ahead of time and objecting if they fall short.
When the deposing party wants to record on video, a videographer runs the equipment. The intent to record by video has to appear in the deposition notice served on all parties.4California Legislative Information. California Code CCP 2025.220 – Deposition Notice Requirements If the video may be used at trial in place of live testimony from a treating physician or expert, the camera operator must be someone authorized to administer an oath and must meet the same neutrality standards as a court reporter.
Who Cannot Walk In
Unlike a trial, a deposition is a private proceeding. Members of the public, journalists, and uninvolved bystanders have no right to attend. Section 2025.420(b)(12) authorizes courts to exclude “designated persons, other than the parties to the action and their officers and counsel,” which treats non-party exclusion as the default a protective order simply confirms.5California Legislative Information. California Code CCP 2025.420 – Protective Orders
In practical terms, a spouse, parent, friend, or coworker who wants to sit beside the deponent for moral support generally cannot. Neither can business partners or anyone else who is not a party. There is one workaround: a stipulation. If every party, through counsel, agrees to let a particular non-party observe, that person can be in the room. Stipulations are voluntary, and opposing counsel has no obligation to say yes.
When Someone with a Right to Attend Can Still Be Excluded
Even people who normally have the right to attend can be kept out through a protective order. Under Section 2025.420, any party, deponent, or other affected person can ask the court to limit attendance before, during, or after a deposition. The motion must include a declaration showing the parties tried to work it out informally first.5California Legislative Information. California Code CCP 2025.420 – Protective Orders
The court will grant the order on a showing of “good cause” to protect someone from unwarranted annoyance, embarrassment, oppression, or undue burden. The most common attendance-related use is witness sequestration: keeping one witness from hearing another’s testimony so the second cannot tailor their answers to match. Another frequent scenario is a deponent with a reasonable fear of harassment or intimidation by another party in the room. A protective order can go further than attendance, too; the court can change the location, limit the topics, seal the transcript, or cancel the deposition entirely.5California Legislative Information. California Code CCP 2025.420 – Protective Orders
One limit on this power matters: the court cannot use the standard subsection (b)(12) mechanism to exclude a party or that party’s counsel. Those individuals occupy a protected category. To exclude a party, the person asking would have to show extraordinary circumstances justifying a broader order under the court’s general authority.
Attending Remotely
Attendance in California no longer has to mean being in the same room. Under Rule 3.1010 of the California Rules of Court, any party or attorney of record may participate by telephone, videoconference, or other remote means, so long as they give written notice at least five court days before the deposition and pay for their own remote setup.6Judicial Branch of California. California Rules of Court Rule 3.1010 – Oral Depositions by Remote Means The deponent’s own attorney can appear at the deponent’s physical location without advance notice.
If you want to be physically present at the deponent’s location when the deposition is otherwise being conducted remotely, you also have to serve written notice at least five court days ahead of time. Everyone physically present must follow applicable local health and safety rules.1California Legislative Information. California Code CCP 2025.310 – Deposition Attendance and Physical Presence The deposition officer can attend remotely as well; the officer does not need to be in the same room as the witness to administer the oath.