(a) If a deponent fails to answer any question or to produce any document, electronically stored information, or tangible thing under the deponent's control that is specified in the deposition notice or a deposition subpoena, the party seeking discovery may move the court for an order compelling that answer or production.
§ 2025.480.Motion to compel answers or produce documents, electronically stored
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 2012 · Last verified July 29, 2026
In one sentenceSection 2025.480 lets a party move to compel an answer or document production a deponent refused during a deposition, requires the motion within 60 days of the record's completion with a meet and confer declaration, applies electronically stored information burden-shifting, requires lodging relevant transcript excerpts, mandates sanctions, and authorizes contempt or escalating sanctions for disobedience.
Full Text of § 2025.480
(c) Notice of this motion shall be given to all parties and to the deponent either orally at the examination, or by subsequent service in writing. If the notice of the motion is given orally, the deposition officer shall direct the deponent to attend a session of the court at the time specified in the notice.
(d) In a motion under subdivision (a) relating to the production of electronically stored information, the deponent objecting to or opposing the production, inspection, copying, testing, or sampling of electronically stored information on the basis that the information is from a source that is not reasonably accessible because of the undue burden or expense shall bear the burden of demonstrating that the information is from a source that is not reasonably accessible because of undue burden or expense.
(e) If the deponent from whom discovery of electronically stored information is sought establishes that the information is from a source that is not reasonably accessible because of the undue burden or expense, the court may nonetheless order discovery if the deposing party shows good cause, subject to any limitations imposed under subdivision (g).
(f) If the court finds good cause for the production of electronically stored information from a source that is not reasonably accessible, the court may set conditions for the discovery of the electronically stored information, including allocation of the expense of discovery.
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(g) The court shall limit the frequency or extent of discovery of electronically stored information, even from a source that is reasonably accessible, if the court determines that any of the following conditions exists:
(1) It is possible to obtain the information from some other source that is more convenient, less burdensome, or less expensive.
(2) The discovery sought is unreasonably cumulative or duplicative.
(3) The party seeking discovery has had ample opportunity by discovery in the action to obtain the information sought.
(4) The likely burden or expense of the proposed discovery outweighs the likely benefit, taking into account the amount in controversy, the resources of the parties, the importance of the issues in the litigation, and the importance of the requested discovery in resolving the issues.
(h) Not less than five days prior to the hearing on this motion, the moving party shall lodge with the court a certified copy of any parts of the stenographic transcript of the deposition that are relevant to the motion. If a deposition is recorded by audio or video technology, the moving party is required to lodge a certified copy of a transcript of any parts of the deposition that are relevant to the motion.
(i) If the court determines that the answer or production sought is subject to discovery, it shall order that the answer be given or the production be made on the resumption of the deposition.
(j) 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 compel an answer or production, 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.
(k) If a deponent fails to obey an order entered under this section, the failure may be considered a contempt of court. In addition, if the disobedient deponent is a party to the action or an officer, director, managing agent, or employee of a party, the court may make those orders that are just against the disobedient party, or against the party with whom the disobedient deponent is affiliated, including the imposition of an issue sanction, an evidence sanction, or a terminating sanction under Chapter 7 (commencing with Section 2023.010). In lieu of or in addition to this sanction, the court may impose a monetary sanction under Chapter 7 (commencing with Section 2023.010) against that party deponent or against any party with whom the deponent is affiliated.
(l) (1) Notwithstanding subdivisions (j) and (k), absent exceptional circumstances, the court shall not impose sanctions on a deponent or any attorney of a deponent 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.
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Plain-English Summary
Not every deposition dispute gets resolved on the spot, and this section is the backstop for the ones that do not. When a deponent refuses to answer a question or produce a document, electronically stored information, or tangible thing the deposition notice or subpoena called for, the party who wanted that answer or material can move the court for an order compelling it.
Timing and process matter here. The motion has to be filed no later than 60 days after the deposition record is complete, and it has to come with a meet and confer declaration, so a party cannot sit on a dispute indefinitely or skip the effort to work it out informally first. Notice of the motion can be given right at the deposition, orally, with the deposition officer directing the deponent to appear in court at the specified time, or it can be served in writing afterward. Electronically stored information follows the same burden-shifting structure used elsewhere in this chapter: the deponent resisting production has to show the information comes from a source that is not reasonably accessible because of undue burden or expense, though the court can still order discovery for good cause, and the court has to curb even accessible discovery that is duplicative, more easily obtained elsewhere, already adequately pursued, or disproportionate to the case.
The moving party also carries a documentary burden: at least five days before the hearing, that party has to lodge with the court a certified copy of the relevant parts of the stenographic transcript, or a certified transcript of the relevant parts if the deposition was only recorded by audio or video. If the court agrees the material is discoverable, it orders the answer given or the production made when the deposition resumes, and the losing side on the motion faces a mandatory monetary sanction absent substantial justification.
The consequences of continued defiance are the sharpest in this article. A deponent who disobeys an order entered under this section can be held in contempt of court, and if that deponent is a party or is affiliated with one, an issue sanction, an evidence sanction, or a terminating sanction becomes available on top of, or instead of, a further monetary sanction. Because Section 2025.480 sits at the intersection of a deposition gone wrong and a court's power to enforce its own orders, disputes over what counts as a valid objection, what counts as good cause for producing hard-to-reach electronically stored information, and how far a terminating sanction can reach against a party who stonewalls make this one of the most heavily litigated motions anywhere in the deposition chapter.
Frequently Asked Questions
How long does a party have to bring this motion?
No later than 60 days after the deposition record is completed, and the motion must be accompanied by a meet and confer declaration.
How can notice of the motion be given?
Orally at the deposition itself, with the officer directing the deponent to appear in court, or by later written service on all parties and the deponent.
What must the moving party lodge with the court before the hearing?
A certified copy of the relevant parts of the stenographic transcript, or a certified transcript of the relevant parts if only an audio or video recording was made, at least five days before the hearing.
Who bears the burden on hard-to-reach electronically stored information?
The deponent resisting production, though the court may still order discovery for good cause.
What happens if the deponent disobeys the resulting order?
The deponent may be held in contempt, and if the deponent is a party or affiliated with one, the court may impose an issue, evidence, or terminating sanction in addition to or instead of a monetary sanction.
Amendment History
(Added by Stats.2004, c. 182 (A.B.3081), § 23, operative July 1, 2005. Amended by Stats.2005, c. 22 (S.B.1108), § 21; Stats.2012, c. 72 (S.B.1574), § 26.)
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
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