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§ 2034.460.Production of expert at deposition; proper service of

Title 4. Civil Discovery Act · Chapter 18. Simultaneous Exchange of Expert Witness Information · Article 3. Deposition of Expert Witness · Enacted 2004 · no amendments on record · Last verified July 29, 2026

In one sentenceSection 2034.460 provides that a proper deposition notice paired with the tendered expert fee obligates the designating party to produce the expert, and that the expert need not be deposed at all if the noticing party fails to tender the fee, unless the parties stipulate otherwise.

Full Text of § 2034.460

Text sizeJump to: (a) (b)

(a) The service of a proper deposition notice accompanied by the tender of the expert witness fee described in Section 2034.430 is effective to require the party employing or retaining the expert to produce the expert for the deposition.
(b) If the party noticing the deposition fails to tender the expert's fee under Section 2034.430, the expert shall not be deposed at that time unless the parties stipulate otherwise.

Plain-English Summary

This section ties together the notice-and-tender mechanics from the surrounding sections and states what each side is entitled to demand. Once the deposing party serves a proper deposition notice and tenders the expert fee described in Section 2034.430, that combination is enough on its own to require the party who employs or has retained the expert to produce that expert for the deposition. Nothing more needs to happen on the deposing party's end for the obligation to produce the expert to kick in.

The reverse also holds. If the party noticing the deposition fails to tender the required fee, the expert does not have to sit for the deposition at that time. That consequence is not automatic in every circumstance, though; the parties remain free to stipulate around it and proceed with the deposition even without a tendered fee, if that is what they agree to do. Absent such a stipulation, an untendered fee is a valid basis for the designating party to decline to produce the expert as scheduled.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is required for the deposing party to force production of a designated expert?

A proper deposition notice accompanied by the tender of the expert witness fee described in Section 2034.430.

What happens if the noticing party does not tender the expert's fee?

The expert need not be deposed at that time, unless the parties stipulate otherwise.

Can the parties agree to proceed with an expert deposition even without a tendered fee?

Yes. This section allows the deposition to go forward without the fee if the parties stipulate to that arrangement.

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
Also known as: ccp 2034.460 obligation to produce expert for depositionconsequence of not paying expert deposition feestipulation to depose expert without fee