California Deposition Rules: Notice, 7-Hour Limit, and Transcripts

California deposition rules are set out in the Code of Civil Procedure, Sections 2025.010 through 2025.620, and they govern every step of taking sworn pretrial testimony in a civil case: how you notice a deposition, where it can be held, how long it can run, how objections work, how the transcript is reviewed, and how the testimony can be used at trial. Testimony taken outside the courtroom carries the same legal weight as testimony from the stand, so getting the procedure right matters. Technical mistakes can lead to quashed subpoenas, excluded testimony, or monetary sanctions.

Notice of Deposition

Every deposition begins with a written Notice of Deposition served on all parties. The notice must state the date, time, and address of the session, identify the person to be deposed by name or sufficient description, and list any documents or electronically stored information the witness must bring.¹ If you intend to record the testimony by video or audio in addition to stenography, the notice must say so. The same disclosure is required if you want to reserve the right to play a video-recorded deposition of a treating physician or expert at trial.

The deposition must be scheduled at least 10 days after the notice is served.² Service by mail within California adds five calendar days to that window under the general mail-service extension rule.³

A defendant may notice a deposition once they have been served with the lawsuit or have appeared in the action. A plaintiff must wait until 20 days after the summons is served on any defendant. Unlike federal court, which caps each side at 10 depositions absent agreement or a court order, California sets no statutory limit on how many depositions a party can take.

Deposing Organizations and Non-Parties

When testimony is needed from a company, government agency, or other entity rather than a specific person, the notice must describe the topics with reasonable particularity. The organization then must designate one or more persons “most qualified” to testify on those topics, drawing on information known or reasonably available to the entity.⁴ The organization is responsible for preparing its designee, and a poorly prepared witness can lead to sanctions or an order for a second deposition at the organization’s expense.

A deposition notice alone cannot compel a non-party. Non-party witnesses must be served with a deposition subpoena.⁵ If records or other materials are also needed, a subpoena duces tecum specifies what to produce. Judicial Council forms for these subpoenas are available through the courts’ self-help site.⁶

Where the Deposition Can Be Held

An individual’s deposition must be taken either within 75 miles of the witness’s residence, or within the county where the lawsuit is pending as long as that location is within 150 miles of the witness’s home. The noticing party picks between the two.² Notice a deposition outside those boundaries and the witness can object until a compliant location is set.

Remote attendance is broadly permitted. Either the witness or the deposing party can elect to have the deposition officer attend remotely, and the witness does not have to be in the same room as the court reporter to be sworn in.⁷ Counsel and parties may appear in person with the witness but are not required to. Electing remote attendance does not waive the location or timing rules, and courts may enter procedural orders governing how a remote deposition is conducted.

The Seven-Hour Time Limit

A California deposition is capped at seven hours of actual testimony, not counting meal or rest breaks.⁸ The court can extend the limit when more time is needed to fairly examine the witness or when someone’s conduct has impeded the questioning, and the parties can agree in writing to waive the cap entirely.

Several categories fall outside the seven-hour rule:

Depositions of experts designated under CCP 2034.210 through 2034.310.
Depositions of an organization’s designated representative under CCP 2025.230.
Cases designated as complex under California Rules of Court, Rule 3.400, though a special two-day/14-hour limit applies if the witness has a serious medical condition.
Lawsuits by employees or job applicants against employers for employment-related claims.
A party who enters the case after a deposition has concluded, who may notice a fresh deposition of the same witness subject to the standard seven-hour limit.⁸

What Happens in the Room

A certified deposition officer, usually a court reporter, places the witness under oath before questioning starts.⁹ Every answer that follows carries the same legal consequence as testimony from the witness stand. The noticing attorney examines first, and other counsel follow with cross-examination.

Most objections are stated for the record while the witness still answers the question. A judge rules later if the testimony is offered at trial or in a motion. An attorney should instruct a witness not to answer only when the question invades a genuine privilege, such as attorney-client communications or constitutionally protected privacy rights. Misusing that instruction, or coaching a witness through speaking objections, invites sanctions.

Recording and Transcript Review

Unless the parties agree otherwise or the court orders a different method, testimony is taken stenographically by a certified shorthand reporter, and that transcript becomes the official record.⁹ Video or audio recording can be layered on top of stenography, but only if the notice disclosed that intent.¹ Real-time transcription, with text displayed on screens as the witness speaks, is another option.

After the deposition, the reporter prepares the transcript and notifies the witness that it is ready. The witness then has 30 days to read it, correct any errors in form or substance on an errata sheet, and either sign or decline to sign. The parties and the witness can agree to lengthen or shorten that period. Substantive changes, such as reversing a yes to a no, give opposing counsel material for impeachment at trial. If the transcript is not returned within 30 days, it can be used as though signed.¹⁰ The original signed transcript goes to the noticing attorney, who must safeguard it until the case is resolved.

Protective Orders

Before, during, or after a deposition, any party, the witness, or another affected person can seek a protective order. The motion must include a declaration showing an attempt to resolve the dispute informally first. On a showing of good cause, the court has broad authority to shape or restrict the deposition. Common orders include blocking the deposition entirely or rescheduling it, limiting the scope of questioning, excluding certain people (other than parties and counsel) from the room, shielding trade secrets or confidential business information, and terminating the examination mid-session so it cannot resume without a further court order.¹¹ The court can also require a different recording method or direct that the witness answer written questions instead of sitting for an oral deposition.

Motions to Compel and Sanctions

When a witness fails to appear, refuses to answer questions, or will not produce requested documents, the remedy is a motion to compel. California has two main tracks.

If a party or party-affiliated witness fails to appear at all, the deposing party can move for an order compelling attendance. The motion must include either a meet-and-confer declaration or a statement that the noticing party contacted the no-show to ask why they did not attend. When the court grants the motion, it must impose monetary sanctions on the absent witness or their affiliated party covering the reasonable expenses and attorney’s fees caused by the failure, unless the absence was substantially justified.¹² Any party who appeared expecting testimony can also seek sanctions for wasted time.

If the witness appeared but refused to answer specific questions, a separate motion to compel an answer is required. That motion must be made within 60 days after the deposition record is completed and must include a meet-and-confer declaration.¹³ The 60-day deadline is unforgiving. Miss it and the right to compel that answer is lost.

Sanctions for discovery abuse escalate in severity:

Monetary sanctions ordering the offending party or attorney to pay the other side’s reasonable expenses and fees.
Issue sanctions treating certain facts as established against the offending party.
Evidence sanctions barring the offending party from introducing specific evidence.
Terminating sanctions striking pleadings, staying proceedings, dismissing the case, or entering default judgment.
Contempt sanctions treating the misconduct as contempt of court.¹⁴

Terminating sanctions are reserved for the worst conduct and generally follow lesser sanctions that failed. Monetary sanctions, though, are routine: lose a motion to compel and the court must impose them against you unless your position was substantially justified.

Using Deposition Testimony at Trial

Deposition transcripts are not automatically admissible. Use depends on the circumstances and on who testified.¹⁵

Any party can use a deposition to contradict or impeach a witness who says something different at trial. Beyond impeachment, an adverse party can use the deposition of any opposing party (or their officer, director, employee, or organizational designee) for any purpose, even if that person is available to testify live.¹⁵

For non-party witnesses, the deposition can be used for any purpose if the court finds one of the following:

The witness lives more than 150 miles from the trial location.
The witness is dead, too ill to testify, or otherwise unable to attend.
The witness is absent and the noticing party could not secure attendance through a subpoena despite reasonable effort.
Exceptional circumstances make allowing the deposition testimony just and appropriate.

Video-recorded depositions of treating physicians and expert witnesses receive special treatment. They can be played at trial even when the expert is available in person, provided the original notice reserved that right and the recording complied with statutory requirements.¹⁵ When one side introduces only part of a deposition, the opposing party can require additional portions be introduced to supply context.

1
California Legislative Information. California Code CCP 2025.220 – Deposition Notice Contents
2
Justia Law. California Code of Civil Procedure 2025.210-2025.280 – Deposition Notice
3
California Legislative Information. California Code CCP 1013 – Extension of Time for Service by Mail
4
California Legislative Information. California Code of Civil Procedure 2025.230
5
California Legislative Information. California Code of Civil Procedure 2020.010
6
California Courts. Deposition Subpoena for Production of Business Records SUBP-010
7
California Legislative Information. California Code of Civil Procedure 2025.310
8
California Legislative Information. California Code of Civil Procedure CCP 2025.290
9
Justia Law. California Code of Civil Procedure 2025.330 – Deposition Officer Duties
10
California Legislative Information. California Code of Civil Procedure 2025.520
11
California Legislative Information. California Code of Civil Procedure 2025.420
12
California Legislative Information. California Code of Civil Procedure 2025.450
13
California Legislative Information. California Code CCP 2025.480 – Motion to Compel Answer at Deposition
14
California Legislative Information. California Code of Civil Procedure 2023.030
15
California Legislative Information. California Code of Civil Procedure 2025.620