So its late, and one of my beloved Pac 12 teams just bit the dust. But quick and interesting little case for you.
As most litigators know, there is a 10 deposition presumptive limit in federal court. But some litigators get confused as to who may be deposed.
Specifically once a 30(b)(6) deposition of a corporate designee is taken, many folks seem to assume that no one else from a defendant can be deposed. But that is not at all true. (Indeed the same designee can be deposed again–this time in their personal capacity.)
In Adler v. All Hours Plumbing Drain Cleaning 24-7-365, Case No. 2:21-cv-00141-DBP, 2022 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 51805 (D. Utah March 22, 2022), for instance, the Court allowed Manny to depose three corporate employees personally.
The Defendant had moved for a protective order preventing the depositions arguing that since the corporation had already been deposed pursuant to rule 30(b)(6) there was no “relevant” information that could be obtained from the other employees and that their testimony would be “cumulative.”
No chance.
The Court determined that the employees were witnesses who might be in possession of relevant information. There was no basis for the defendant to argue that the deposition was cumulative since it wasn’t even clear what questions would be asked.
In short, Manny got everything he wanted.
And he didn’t even make the top 10.…
Remember folks– TCPA litigation isn’t just potentially expensive (catastrophic?) from a damages perspective it can be highly disruptive to your operation as numerous individuals might be deposed in a single case. Advanced litigation strategies and tactics need to be effectively developed and deployed to protect a defendant in this setting. But it is best to be protected before litigation commences–by focusing on compliance!
Always here to chat. Even after hours… apparently.