Local Rule 7030-1: DEPOSITIONS

RULE 7030-1 DEPOSITIONS

(A) Deposition of Party: Any party or representative (officer, director or managing agent) of a party filing an adversary proceeding in the proper division of this Court ordinarily may be required to submit to a discovery deposition at a place designated within the division. Exceptions to this general rule may be made on order of the Court when the party, or representative of a party, is of such age or physical condition, or special circumstances exist, as reasonably may interfere with the orderly taking of a deposition at a place within the division. A defendant, who becomes a counter-claimant, cross-claimant or third-party plaintiff, shall be considered as having filed an action in this Court for the purpose of this Local Bankruptcy Rule.

This subdivision shall not apply to an involuntary plaintiff or an interpleader plaintiff.

(B) Recording and Transcribing of Discovery Deposition: The expense of recording a deposition shall be paid by the party seeking to take same. The expense of transcribing the deposition shall be paid by any party ordering the preparation of the original. Any other party desiring a copy of said deposition shall pay for same at the copy rate. Parties may, by agreement, equally share the costs of attendance and transcribing, including such copies as desired. The costs of the original transcript shall be included in the taxable costs, but only if the prevailing party has made use of the deposition during the trial, unless the parties otherwise agree.

(C) Attorneys' Fees: Unless the services of associate counsel are retained in lieu of travel expense, it is not the policy of the Court to make an allowance of counsel fees in attending any deposition, except to the extent provided by statute and otherwise in this Local Bankruptcy Rule, but the Court reserves the right to make a reasonable allowance where the circumstances of the case may justify the same.

(D) Travel Expense: As provided in this Local Bankruptcy Rule, the "costs of travel" shall consist of the actual cost of travel by air or other public transportation, or an allowance for travel by private automobile at mileage rates as set forth in 28 U.S.C. §1821, whichever means of transportation is actually used, including the cost of transportation from the office or residence to the terminal of the public transportation and from the destination terminal to the place of the taking of the deposition and/or overnight accommodations, if deemed necessary, and return. The Court may, in its discretion, make an appropriate allowance for food and lodging. The "costs of travel" as herein defined shall apply to any witness other than a party, or representative of a party, required to attend the taking of a deposition. As to any witness attending a trial or hearing pursuant to FRCP 45(b)(1) the expense of such costs of travel shall be taxed as costs if said witness testifies or if it is reasonably necessary for the witness to appear, but said costs of travel shall be limited to what would have been expended if said witness resided 100 miles or more from the place of the trial or hearing, together with such reasonable allowance, if required for the purpose of the witness testifying, for overnight accommodations and food. If the witness resides within 100 miles of the place of trial or hearing, the costs of travel shall be limited to the mileage and attendance fees as provided by law.

(E) Reviewing Depositions Prior to Jury Trials: Whenever depositions are expected to be presented in evidence, counsel shall, prior to the final pretrial conference or, if same are not then available, prior to the day of jury trial, review such depositions and:

(1) extract therefrom a short statement of the qualifications of any expert witness to be read to the jury;

(2) eliminate unnecessary and/or irrelevant matters; and

(3) eliminate all objections and statements of counsel to avoid reading same to a jury.

In the event counsel are unable to agree on what shall be eliminated, they shall submit same to the Court for a ruling thereon before the date of trial. Failure to do so will constitute a waiver of objections.

(F) Summaries of Depositions: [Repealed]

(G) Reasonable Notice: As a general rule, 7 days in advance of the contemplated taking of a deposition shall constitute reasonable notice of the taking of a deposition in the continental United States, but this will vary according to the complexity of the contemplated testimony and the urgency of taking the deposition of a party or witness at a particular time and place.

Comments 7030-1 This rule was changed from 7027-1 to 7030-1; FRBP 7027 refers to depositions taken before the filing of an adversary proceeding in order to preserve the testimony; rule 7030 is the general rule concerning depositions. [Change effective 2/1/00.]

Rule 7030-1 A Technical modification referencing FRCP 45 is made in the text to Paragraph (D) of the rule. [Change effective 3/17/08.]

Rule 7030-1(F) is repealed as no longer being needed. [Change effective 3/17/08.]

7030-1 A technical change has been made in the second paragraph to paragraph (D). A time-computation adjustment has been made at paragraph (G) to conform to a revision to the Federal Rules of Bankruptcy Procedure that takes effect December 1, 2009. Stylistic changes have been made to the text of the LBR as well. [Changes effective 12/01/09.]