Rule 30. Depositions Upon Oral Examination

(A) When depositions may be taken After commencement of the action, any party may take the testimony of any person, including a party, by deposition upon oral examination. The attendance of a witness deponent may be compelled by the use of subpoena as provided by Civ.R. 45. The attendance of a party deponent may be compelled by the use of notice of examination as provided by division (B) of this rule. The deposition of a person confined in prison may be taken only by leave of court on such terms as the court prescribes.

(B) Notice of examination; general requirements; nonstenographic recording; production of documents and things; deposition of organization; deposition by telephone or remote presence

(1) A party desiring to take the deposition of any person upon oral examination shall give reasonable notice in writing to every other party to the action. The notice shall state the time and place for taking the deposition and the name and address of each person to be examined, if known, and, if the name is not known, a general description sufficient to identify the person or the particular class or group to which the person belongs. If a subpoena duces tecum is to be served on the person to be examined, a designation of the materials to be produced shall be attached to or included in the notice.

(2) If any party shows that when the party was served with notice the party was unable, through the exercise of diligence, to obtain counsel to represent the party at the taking of the deposition, the deposition may not be used against the party.

(3) If a party taking a deposition wishes to have the testimony recorded by other than stenographic means, the notice shall specify the manner of recording, preserving, and filing the deposition. The court may require stenographic taking or make any other order to ensure that the recorded testimony will be accurate and trustworthy. With prior notice to the deponent and other parties, any party may designate another method for recording the testimony in addition to that specified in the original notice. That party bears the expense of the additional record or transcript unless the court orders otherwise.

(4) The notice to a party deponent may be accompanied by a request made in compliance with Civ.R. 34 for the production of documents and tangible things at the taking of the deposition.

(5) In its notice or subpoena, a party may name as the deponent a public or private corporation, a partnership, an association, a limited liability entity, a governmental agency, or other entity and shall describe with reasonable particularity the matters for examination. The named organization shall 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. Before or promptly after the notice or subpoena is served, the serving party and the organization shall confer in good faith about the matters for examination. A subpoena shall advise a nonparty organization of its duty to confer with the serving party and to designate each person who will testify. The persons designated shall testify about information known or reasonably available to the organization. Division (B)(5) does not preclude a deposition by any other procedure allowed by these rules.

(6) The parties may stipulate or the court may upon motion order that a deposition be taken by telephone or with one or more participants in a remote presence. For purposes of this rule, Civ.R. 28, and Civ.R. 45(C), a deposition taken by telephone or with participants in remote presence is considered to be taken in the jurisdiction in which the case is pending.

(C) Examination and cross-examination; record of examination; oath; objections; written questions

(1) Examination and cross-examination Each party at the deposition may examine the deponent without regard to which party served notice or called the deposition. In all other respects the examination and cross-examination of a deponent may proceed as they would at trial under the Ohio Rules of Evidence, except Evid.R. 103 and Evid.R. 615. After putting the deponent under oath or affirmation, the officer shall record the testimony by the method designated under Civ.R. 30(B)(3). The testimony shall be recorded by the officer personally or by a person acting in the presence and under the direction of the officer.

(2) Objections An objection made at the time of the examination whether to evidence, a party's conduct, to the officer's qualifications, to the manner of taking the deposition, or to any other aspect of the deposition shall be noted on the record, but the examination still proceeds, the testimony taken subject to any objection. An objection shall be stated concisely in a nonargumentative and nonsuggestive manner. A person may instruct a deponent not to answer only when necessary to preserve a privilege, to enforce a limitation ordered by a court, or to present a motion under Civ.R. 30(D).

(3) Participating through written questions Instead of participating in the oral examination, a party may serve written questions in a sealed envelope on the party noticing the deposition, who must deliver them to the officer. The officer must ask the deponent those questions and record the answers verbatim.

(D) Duration; motion to terminate or limit examinations

(1) Duration Unless otherwise stipulated or ordered by the court, a deposition is limited to one day of seven hours. The court shall allow additional time consistent with Civ.R. 26(B)(6)(a) and (b) if needed to fairly examine the deponent or if the deponent, another person, or any other circumstance impedes or delays the examination.

(2) Motion to terminate or limit examinations At any time during the taking of the deposition, on motion of any party or of the deponent and upon a showing that the examination is being conducted in bad faith or in such manner as unreasonably to annoy, embarrass, or oppress the deponent or party, the court in which the action is pending may order the officer conducting the examination to cease forthwith from taking the deposition, or may limit the scope and manner of the taking of the deposition as provided in Civ.R. 26(C). If the order made terminates the examination, it shall be resumed thereafter only upon the order of the court in which the action is pending. Upon demand of the objecting party or deponent, the taking of the deposition shall be suspended for the time necessary to make a motion for an order. The provisions of Civ.R. 37 apply to the award of expenses incurred in relation to the motion.

(E) Submission to witness; changes; signing When the testimony is fully transcribed, the deposition shall be submitted to the witness for examination and shall be read to or by the witness, unless examination and reading are waived by the witness and by the parties. Any changes in form or substance that the witness desires to make shall be entered upon the deposition by the officer with a statement of the reasons given by the witness for making them. The deposition shall then be signed by the witness by hand or by electronic signature, unless the parties by stipulation waive the signing or the witness is ill, cannot be found, or refuses to sign. The witness shall have thirty days from submission of the deposition to the witness to review and sign the deposition. If the deposition is taken within thirty days of a trial or hearing, the witness shall have seven days from submission of the deposition to the witness to review and sign the deposition. If the trial or hearing is scheduled to commence less than seven days before the deposition is submitted to the witness, the court may establish a deadline for the witness to review and sign the deposition. If the deposition is not signed by the witness during the period prescribed in this division, the officer shall sign it and state on the record the fact of the waiver or of the illness or absence of the witness or the fact of the refusal to sign together with the reason, if any, given therefor; and the deposition may then be used as fully as though signed, unless on a motion to suppress the court holds that the reasons given for the refusal to sign require rejection of the deposition in whole or in part.

(F) Certification and filing by officer; exhibits; copies; notice of filing

(1) (a) Upon request of any party or order of the court, the officer shall transcribe the deposition. Provided the officer has retained an archival-quality copy of the officer's notes, the officer shall have no duty to retain paper notes of the deposition testimony. The officer shall certify on the transcribed deposition that the witness was fully sworn or affirmed by the officer and that the transcribed deposition is a true record of the testimony given by the witness. If any of the parties request or the court orders, the officer shall seal the transcribed deposition in an envelope endorsed with the title of the action and marked "Deposition of (here insert name of witness)" and, upon payment of the officer's fees, promptly shall file it with the court in which the action is pending or send it by United States certified or express mail or commercial carrier service to the clerk of the court for filing.

(b) Unless objection is made to their production for inspection during the examination of the witness, documents and things shall be marked for identification and annexed to and returned with the deposition. The materials may be inspected and copied by any party, except that the person producing the materials may substitute copies to be marked for identification, if the person affords to all parties fair opportunity to verify the copies by comparison with the originals. If the person producing the materials requests their return, the officer shall mark them, give each party an opportunity to inspect and copy them, and return them to the person producing them, and the materials may then be used in the same manner as if annexed to and returned with the deposition.

(2) Upon payment, the officer shall furnish a copy of the deposition to any party or to the deponent.

(3) The party requesting the filing of the deposition shall forthwith give notice of its filing to all other parties.

(4) As used in division (F) of this rule, "archival-quality copy" means any format of a permanent or enduring nature, including digital, magnetic, optical, or other medium, that allows an officer to transcribe the deposition.

(G) Failure to attend or to serve subpoena; expenses

(1) If the party giving the notice of the taking of a deposition fails to attend and proceed with the deposition and another party attends in person or by attorney pursuant to the notice, the court may order the party giving the notice to pay to the other party the amount of the reasonable expenses incurred by the other party and the other party's attorney in so attending, including reasonable attorney's fees.

(2) If the party giving the notice of the taking of a deposition of a witness fails to serve a subpoena upon the witness and the witness because of the failure does not attend, and another party attends in person or by attorney because the other party expects the deposition of that witness to be taken, the court may order the party giving the notice to pay to the other party the amount of the reasonable expenses incurred by the other party and the other party's attorney in so attending, including reasonable attorney's fees.