eDiscovery Daily Blog

DOS and DON’TS of a 30(b)(6) Witness Deposition

Editor’s Note: Tom O’Connor is a nationally known consultant, speaker, and writer in the field of computerized litigation support systems.  He has also been a great addition to our webinar program, participating with me on several recent webinars.  Tom has also written several terrific informational overview series for CloudNine, including his most recent one, What is the Future of the Legal Technology Conference?  Now, Tom has written another terrific overview regarding the state of legal technology conferences titled DOS and DON’TS of a 30(b)(6) Witness Deposition that we’re happy to share on the eDiscovery Daily blog.  Enjoy! – Doug

Tom’s overview is split into six parts, so we’ll cover each part separately.  Here’s the first part.

Introduction

30(b)(6) depositions are a large part of many ediscovery matters with many considerations about how to work with a witness, get the proper information and best practices for framing and answering questions.

But before we look at some of those issues, let’s take a look at the rule itself and define our terms so it’s clear what we’re talking about.

What is a 30(b)(6) Deposition?

Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 30(b)(6) (found here) permits a party to notice or subpoena the deposition of “a public or private corporation, a partnership, an association, a governmental agency or other entity and must describe with reasonable particularity the matters for examination.”

In response, the named organization “must then designate one or more officers, directors, or managing agents, or designate other persons who consent to testify on its behalf; and it may set out the matters on which each person designated will testify.” Once noticed, the designated witness “…. must testify about information known or reasonably available to the organization.”

In this paper, we will take a look at several aspects and best practices regarding 30(b)(6) depositions, including:

  1. Initial Considerations
  2. Proposed Rule Change
  3. Common Mistakes
  4. Specific Strategies to Consider
  5. Conclusions

We’ll publish Part 2 – Initial Considerations – on Wednesday.

So, what do you think?  Have you ever been a 30(b)(6) deponent?  Or been involved in preparing one for testimony?  As always, please share any comments you might have or if you’d like to know more about a particular topic.

Sponsor: This blog is sponsored by CloudNine, which is a data and legal discovery technology company with proven expertise in simplifying and automating the discovery of data for audits, investigations, and litigation. Used by legal and business customers worldwide including more than 50 of the top 250 Am Law firms and many of the world’s leading corporations, CloudNine’s eDiscovery automation software and services help customers gain insight and intelligence on electronic data.

Disclaimer: The views represented herein are exclusively the views of the author, and do not necessarily represent the views held by CloudNine. eDiscovery Daily is made available by CloudNine solely for educational purposes to provide general information about general eDiscovery principles and not to provide specific legal advice applicable to any particular circumstance. eDiscovery Daily should not be used as a substitute for competent legal advice from a lawyer you have retained and who has agreed to represent you.

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