At the trial or any other hearing in the action, any part or all of a deposition may be used against any party who was present or represented at the taking of the deposition, or who had due notice of the deposition and did not serve a valid objection under Section 2025.410, so far as admissible under the rules of evidence applied as though the deponent were then present and testifying as a witness, in accordance with the following provisions:
§ 2025.620.Use of deposition at trial or other hearings; procedural
Title 4. Civil Discovery Act · Chapter 9. Oral Deposition Inside California · Article 6. Post-Deposition Procedures · Enacted 2004 · no amendments on record · Last verified July 29, 2026
In one sentenceSection 2025.620 governs when deposition testimony can be used at trial, allowing use against anyone present, represented, or properly noticed without a valid objection, permitting impeachment by any party, unrestricted use of a party-affiliated deponent's testimony by an adverse party, and broader use when the deponent is unavailable or exceptional circumstances exist.
Full Text of § 2025.620
(a) Any party may use a deposition for the purpose of contradicting or impeaching the testimony of the deponent as a witness, or for any other purpose permitted by the Evidence Code.
(b) An adverse party may use for any purpose, a deposition of a party to the action, or of anyone who at the time of taking the deposition was an officer, director, managing agent, employee, agent, or designee under Section 2025.230 of a party. It is not ground for objection to the use of a deposition of a party under this subdivision by an adverse party that the deponent is available to testify, has testified, or will testify at the trial or other hearing.
(c) Any party may use for any purpose the deposition of any person or organization, including that of any party to the action, if the court finds any of the following:
(1) The deponent resides more than 150 miles from the place of the trial or other hearing.
(2) The deponent, without the procurement or wrongdoing of the proponent of the deposition for the purpose of preventing testimony in open court, is any of the following:
(A) Exempted or precluded on the ground of privilege from testifying concerning the matter to which the deponent's testimony is relevant.
(B) Disqualified from testifying.
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(C) Dead or unable to attend or testify because of existing physical or mental illness or infirmity.
(D) Absent from the trial or other hearing and the court is unable to compel the deponent's attendance by its process.
(E) Absent from the trial or other hearing and the proponent of the deposition has exercised reasonable diligence but has been unable to procure the deponent's attendance by the court's process.
(3) Exceptional circumstances exist that make it desirable to allow the use of any deposition in the interests of justice and with due regard to the importance of presenting the testimony of witnesses orally in open court.
(d) Any party may use a video recording of the deposition testimony of a treating or consulting physician or of any expert witness even though the deponent is available to testify if the deposition notice under Section 2025.220 reserved the right to use the deposition at trial, and if that party has complied with subdivision (m) of Section 2025.340.
(e) Subject to the requirements of this chapter, a party may offer in evidence all or any part of a deposition, and if the party introduces only part of the deposition, any other party may introduce any other parts that are relevant to the parts introduced.
(f) Substitution of parties does not affect the right to use depositions previously taken.
(g) When an action has been brought in any court of the United States or of any state, and another action involving the same subject matter is subsequently brought between the same parties or their representatives or successors in interest, all depositions lawfully taken and duly filed in the initial action may be used in the subsequent action as if originally taken in that subsequent action. A deposition previously taken may also be used as permitted by the Evidence Code.
Plain-English Summary
A deposition is discovery first, but this section is what lets it walk into a trial or hearing as evidence. Testimony from a deposition can be used against any party who was present or represented when it was taken, or who had due notice and never served a valid objection, so long as it would be admissible under the ordinary rules of evidence as if the deponent were testifying live.
The section then lays out escalating tiers of permitted use. Any party can use a deposition to impeach or contradict the deponent's trial testimony, or for any other purpose the Evidence Code allows. An adverse party gets a wider berth still: that party can use the deposition of an opposing party, or of anyone who was an officer, director, managing agent, employee, agent, or organizational designee of a party, for any purpose at all, and it is no objection that the deponent is available, has testified, or will testify at trial.
Beyond that, any party can use anyone's deposition for any purpose if the court finds the deponent is unavailable in one of several specific ways not brought about by the party offering the deposition: living more than 150 miles from the courthouse, exempted or disqualified from testifying, dead or too ill to attend, or absent despite the court's or the offering party's best efforts to compel attendance, or if exceptional circumstances make use of the deposition desirable in the interests of justice. A separate rule lets a party use a video recording of a treating or consulting physician's or an expert's testimony at trial even if that witness is available, provided the original notice reserved that right and the recording procedures were followed. Rounding out the section, an opposing party can complete the picture by introducing other relevant parts of a partially offered deposition, a substitution of parties does not cut off the right to use depositions already taken, and a deposition properly taken in an earlier action between the same parties over the same subject matter can carry over into a later case.
Frequently Asked Questions
When can deposition testimony generally be used at trial?
Against a party who was present, represented, or had due notice and served no valid objection, so long as it would be admissible as if the deponent were testifying live.
Can an adverse party use a party's own deposition for any purpose?
Yes, and it is not a valid objection that the deponent is available to testify or has already testified.
What makes a deponent unavailable enough to let any party use the deposition for any purpose?
Living more than 150 miles away, being privileged or disqualified from testifying, being dead or too ill, being absent despite diligent efforts to compel attendance, or exceptional circumstances justifying its use.
Can a physician's or expert's video deposition be used at trial even though the witness is available to testify live?
Yes, if the original deposition notice reserved that right and the recording procedures in Section 2025.340 were followed.
Does substituting a new party into the case affect the ability to use depositions already taken?
No, substitution of parties does not affect that right.
Amendment History
(Added by Stats.2004, c. 182 (A.B.3081), § 23, operative July 1, 2005.)
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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