Yes, depositions are under oath. Before any questioning begins, an authorized officer swears the witness in, and from that moment on everything said carries the same legal weight as testimony given from a courtroom witness stand. Lying is perjury, a federal felony punishable by a fine, up to five years in prison, or both.1Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 18 U.S. Code 1621 – Perjury Generally The oath is what turns a deposition from a lawyer-run interview into sworn evidence that can shape, and sometimes decide, the case.
Who Puts You Under Oath and How
Depositions are authorized by Rule 30 of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, with equivalent rules in every state.2Legal Information Institute. Federal Rules of Civil Procedure Rule 30 – Depositions by Oral Examination Under Rule 28, the oath has to be administered by someone legally authorized to do so in the place where the deponent is answering questions.3Legal Information Institute. Federal Rules of Civil Procedure Rule 28 – Persons Before Whom Depositions May Be Taken In practice that officer is almost always the certified court reporter, who typically holds a notary commission.
The reporter administers the oath, then records every question, every answer, every objection, and every pause. The transcript they produce is the official sworn record. Courts treat it as equivalent to live witness-stand testimony for perjury purposes, and the sworn status does not depend on whether the deposition is in a conference room or on video. Under Rule 30(b)(4), parties can agree to a deposition by telephone, video, or other remote technology, and the court can order one if they can’t agree. For remote depositions, the proceeding is treated as taking place where the deponent is physically sitting, so the officer swearing you in must be authorized to administer oaths in that location.
What “Under Oath” Actually Means for You
Being under oath has two practical consequences, and both matter long after the deposition ends.
The first is criminal exposure. Federal perjury law requires that the false statement be willful and concern a material fact — something capable of affecting the outcome of the case.1Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 18 U.S. Code 1621 – Perjury Generally Every state has its own perjury statute with similar penalties. Prosecutions arising from civil depositions are not routine, but the exposure is real and it is the same exposure a trial witness faces.
The second is civil. Even without criminal charges, a court can sanction a party who testifies falsely during discovery by striking their pleadings, barring key evidence, entering a default judgment, or dismissing the case outright.4Legal Information Institute. Federal Rules of Civil Procedure Rule 37 – Failure to Make Disclosures or to Cooperate in Discovery – Sanctions On top of that, a witness caught in a lie loses credibility with the judge and jury for the rest of the case, and that reputational damage is often worse than any individual ruling.
People sometimes ask whether a deposition is “binding.” It is not binding like a contract — you have not agreed to anything by testifying. What the oath does is lock in your version of events. Once you have sworn to a set of facts, you can’t quietly change your story at trial without opposing counsel reading your prior answer back to the jury. That is the binding force: not contractual, but evidentiary.
How Your Sworn Answers Can Be Used Later
The most common use of a deposition transcript is impeachment at trial. If you testify one way on the stand and said something different under oath months earlier, opposing counsel will read the earlier answer to the jury. The contradiction does not have to be dramatic; small inconsistencies accumulate, and experienced trial lawyers collect them.
Sworn deposition testimony can also come in as substantive evidence, meaning the jury treats it as proof of the facts stated rather than just a credibility check. Rule 32 allows this when the witness is unavailable, and the rule defines unavailability broadly:
- Death of the witness after the deposition.
- The witness is more than 100 miles from the courthouse or outside the United States.
- The witness can’t attend because of age, illness, or imprisonment.
- The party offering the deposition couldn’t compel the witness to appear.
- Exceptional circumstances where the court finds the interests of justice favor allowing it.
Courts generally prefer live testimony, so the party seeking to use a deposition as a substitute bears the burden of showing why the witness can’t appear in person.5Legal Information Institute. Federal Rules of Civil Procedure Rule 32 – Using Depositions in Court Proceedings The rules are more generous when the deposition is of an opposing party: an adverse party’s sworn deposition can generally be used for any purpose, even if that person is available to come testify in person.
When You Can Refuse to Answer
Depositions run on an “answer now, argue later” principle that surprises people used to courtroom objections on television. When an attorney objects, the objection goes on the record, but the deponent still has to answer. A judge sorts out admissibility later.2Legal Information Institute. Federal Rules of Civil Procedure Rule 30 – Depositions by Oral Examination
An attorney can instruct a deponent not to answer in only three situations:
- The question calls for information protected by attorney-client privilege, spousal privilege, or another recognized legal privilege.
- A judge has already entered an order limiting certain topics or questions.
- The questioning has become so unreasonable or harassing that the attorney needs to suspend the deposition and seek a protective order from the court.
Outside those narrow grounds, refusing to answer is not an option. If a deponent stonewalls without justification, the questioning party can ask the court to compel answers and impose sanctions.4Legal Information Institute. Federal Rules of Civil Procedure Rule 37 – Failure to Make Disclosures or to Cooperate in Discovery – Sanctions
The Fifth Amendment in Civil Depositions
Because a deposition is under oath, the Fifth Amendment privilege against self-incrimination applies even though the case is civil. If a truthful answer could expose you to criminal liability, you can decline to answer.6United States Congress. General Protections Against Self-Incrimination Doctrine and Practice Two things to know. You have to actually invoke the privilege out loud, question by question; silence or a vague non-answer doesn’t preserve it. And in a civil case the jury may be allowed to draw a negative inference from your refusal, meaning they can assume the answer would have hurt your position. Invoking the Fifth in a civil deposition is a serious strategic call, not a casual shield.
Fixing Mistakes After the Deposition
You have a right to review the transcript for errors, but it isn’t automatic. Either the deponent or a party must request review before the deposition ends. Once the court reporter notifies the deponent that the transcript is ready, there are 30 days to review it.2Legal Information Institute. Federal Rules of Civil Procedure Rule 30 – Depositions by Oral Examination
Changes are submitted on a signed statement listing each correction and the reason for it. These can be simple transcription fixes where the reporter misheard a word, or substantive changes to the answer itself. Substantive changes invite scrutiny. Opposing counsel will almost certainly show the jury the original answer and ask them to decide which version to believe. The errata sheet does not erase what you first said; it sits alongside it. If no one requests review, or the 30 days pass without changes, the transcript stands as the final sworn record.
“I Don’t Know” Is a Real Answer
Because the oath makes every answer evidence, the safest response to a question you genuinely can’t answer is to say so. “I don’t know” and “I don’t recall” are acceptable responses, and experienced attorneys expect to hear them. Guessing or speculating to fill silence is how deponents create problems for themselves. In a transcript, an inaccurate guess looks identical to a deliberate lie, and the oath you took at the start applies to both.