(a) Any party served with a deposition notice that does not comply with Article 2 (commencing with Section 2025.210) waives any error or irregularity unless that party promptly serves a written objection specifying that error or irregularity at least three calendar days prior to the date for which the deposition is scheduled, on the party seeking to take the deposition and any other attorney or party on whom the deposition notice was served.
§ 2025.410.Defective notice; time to object; waiver; service; motion for order staying deposition
Title 4. Civil Discovery Act · Chapter 9. Oral Deposition Inside California · Article 4. Objections, Sanctions, Protective Orders, Motions to Compel, and Suspension of Depositions · Last amended 2026 · Last verified July 29, 2026
In one sentenceSection 2025.410 requires a party who objects to a defective deposition notice to serve a written objection at least three calendar days before the deposition or waive the defect, allows a motion to stay and quash the deposition backed by a meet and confer declaration, and imposes mandatory sanctions against whichever side loses that motion.
Full Text of § 2025.410
(b) If an objection is made three calendar days before the deposition date, the objecting party shall make personal service of that objection pursuant to Section 1011 on the party who gave notice of the deposition. Any deposition taken after the service of a written objection shall not be used against the objecting party under Section 2025.620 if the party did not attend the deposition and if the court determines that the objection was a valid one.
(c) In addition to serving this written objection, a party may also move for an order staying the taking of the deposition and quashing the deposition notice. This motion shall be accompanied by a meet and confer declaration under Section 2016.040. The taking of the deposition is stayed pending the determination of this motion.
(d) The court shall impose a monetary sanction under Chapter 7 (commencing with Section 2023.010) against any party, person, or attorney who unsuccessfully makes or opposes a motion to quash a deposition notice, unless it finds that the one subject to the sanction acted with substantial justification or that other circumstances make the imposition of the sanction unjust.
(e) (1) Notwithstanding subdivision (d), absent exceptional circumstances, the court shall not impose sanctions on any party, person, or attorney for failure to provide electronically stored information that has been lost, damaged, altered, or overwritten as the result of the routine, good faith operation of an electronic information system.
(2) This subdivision shall not be construed to alter any obligation to preserve discoverable information.
Plain-English Summary
A deposition notice that skips a required element under Article 2 does not automatically doom the deposition; it only becomes a problem if someone objects in time. This section requires a party served with a defective notice to serve a written objection identifying the specific error or irregularity at least three calendar days before the scheduled deposition, on the noticing party and everyone else served with the notice, or lose the right to complain about it later.
An objection served right at that three-day mark has to go out by personal service, and if the objecting party skips the deposition and the court later agrees the objection was valid, the deposition cannot be used against that party. Beyond objecting, a party can also move for an order staying the deposition and quashing the notice outright, a motion that has to come with a meet and confer declaration, and filing it automatically stays the deposition until the court rules.
As with most motions in this chapter, the outcome triggers a mandatory monetary sanction against whoever loses, absent substantial justification or some other circumstance making a sanction unjust, and the section preserves the recurring safe harbor against sanctions for electronically stored information lost through the routine, good-faith operation of a computer system, without excusing any separate duty to preserve that information.
Frequently Asked Questions
What happens if a party doesn't object to a defective notice in time?
The error or irregularity is waived.
How much notice is required for the written objection?
At least three calendar days before the scheduled deposition.
Can a party stop the deposition instead of just objecting?
Yes, by moving to stay the deposition and quash the notice, which automatically stays the deposition pending the ruling.
Are sanctions automatic on this kind of motion?
Yes, against whoever loses, unless the court finds substantial justification or that a sanction would be unjust.
Amendment History
(Added by Stats.2004, c. 182 (A.B.3081), § 23, operative July 1, 2005. Amended by Stats.2012, c. 72 (S.B.1574), § 22.) WESTLAW © 2026 Thomson Reuters. No claim to original U.S. Government Works. 1 § 2025.410. Defective notice; time to object; waiver; service; motion for order staying deposition..., CA CIV PRO § 2025.410
Source & verification. Section text is reproduced verbatim from
the West's Annotated California Codes / Thomson Reuters. Enacted by the California Legislature.
Last verified July 29, 2026.
· Official source
Also known as: objecting to deposition notice californiamotion to quash deposition notice california