BILL ANALYSIS Ó
AB 1875
Page 1
ASSEMBLY THIRD READING
AB 1875 (Gatto)
As Amended May 30, 2012
Majority vote
JUDICIARY 7-3
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|Ayes:|Feuer, Atkins, Dickinson, | | |
| |Huber, Monning, | | |
| |Wieckowski, Chesbro | | |
| | | | |
|-----+--------------------------+-----+--------------------------|
|Nays:|Wagner, Gorell, Jones | | |
| | | | |
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SUMMARY : Limits a civil deposition of any person to one day of
seven hours, except as specified. Specifically this bill :
1)Provides, unless ordered by the court, that a deposition in a
civil case shall be limited to one day of seven hours.
Specifies that the court shall allow additional time if needed
to fairly examine the deponent or if the deponent, another
person, or any other circumstance impedes or delays the
examination.
2)Specifies that the limitation described above shall not apply
under any of the following circumstances:
a) If the parties have stipulated that the provisions of
this bill will not apply to a specific deposition or to the
entire proceeding;
b) To any deposition of an expert witnesses, as defined;
and,
c) To any case designated a complex case, as defined in the
California Rules of Court, if that case has more than five
defendants.
EXISTING LAW :
1)Permits a party to a civil action to take an oral deposition
of any person, including other parties to the action, upon
AB 1875
Page 2
service of a proper notice indicating the date, time, and
location of the deposition, as well as notice of any materials
that must be produced at the deposition.
2)Permits any party or deponent, at any time before, during, or
after a deposition, to seek an order from the court protecting
the deponent from unwarranted annoyance, embarrassment, or
oppression, or undue burden or expense, and authorizes a
deposition officer to suspend the taking of testimony to
enable the party or deponent to move for such protective
order. Specifies that the protective order may impose certain
conditions or limitations on the deposition, including an
order that the deposition be terminated or not taken at all.
3)Provides, under federal rules, that unless otherwise
stipulated or ordered by the court, a deposition is limited to
one day of seven hours. Specifies that a federal court may
allow additional time if needed to fairly examine the deponent
or if the deponent, another person, or any other circumstance
impedes or delays the examination.
FISCAL EFFECT : None
COMMENTS : Existing law allows a party to a civil action to take
an oral deposition of any person, including another party or the
other party's witness, as part of the pre-trial civil discovery
process. This testimony is reduced to writing for purposes of
preparing for trial or, under some circumstances, for use at
trial. California's Civil Discovery Act sets forth a number of
rules governing the means and times for notifying deponents and
the manner in which depositions must be conducted. In many ways
California law parallels the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure on
these matters. For example, both federal rules and state law
permit a deponent or party to seek a protective order
terminating the deposition if it becomes overly oppressive or
burdensome. However, while the federal rules presumptively
limit depositions to one day of seven hours per deponent -
unless circumstances warrant additional time or the parties
stipulate otherwise - California law contains no such
limitation. According to the author and supporters of this
bill, the lack of any limitation in state law has led to
needlessly long and repetitive questioning of deponents, for
apparently no other purpose than to delay the proceeding or to
discourage a plaintiff from proceeding with a suit.
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This bill, therefore, would adopt a variation of the Federal
Rules of Civil Procedure by limiting a civil deposition, as a
general rule, to one day of seven hours, unless the court orders
additional time as needed. This bill also specifies that this
seven hour rule would not apply if parties stipulate otherwise.
Unlike the federal rule, this bill adds two additional
exceptions: the seven hour limitation will not apply to: 1)
any deposition of an expert witness; or, 2) any case designated
as "complex," as defined in the California Rules of Court, if
that case has more than five defendants. By adopting the
federal rule that a deposition shall be limited to seven hours
unless otherwise stipulated or ordered, this bill effectively
reverses the presumption in existing state law. Under existing
law, that is, there is no limitation on the length of a
deposition unless the parties stipulate to limitations or the
court orders a limitation. This bill, on the other hand, would
begin with the presumption that a deposition is limited to seven
hours unless the parties stipulate otherwise or the court orders
an extension.
Supporters contend that this bill merely adopts the federal
rule, and that if the rule is workable in the federal courts
then it will also work in the state courts. There is some
justification for this position. Federal courts, after all,
handle litigation every bit as complex as litigation handled in
California courts. There are also important differences between
state and federal courts, some of which may argue for a greater
presumptive limits on the length of depositions in state court
and some of which may cut the other way. These differences
include case volume and court resources, the general type and
complexity of the issues in many cases, practice styles of
counsel, rules of procedure, court "cultures," and the
availability of judicial supervision.
Analysis Prepared by : Thomas Clark / JUD. / (916) 319-2334
FN: 0003976