Arizona depositions: four categories of witness, and nobody else without agreement

Most states let you depose anyone with relevant knowledge and argue about limits afterwards. Arizona inverts that. Rule 30(a)(1) names the people you may depose, and everyone else requires agreement or an order.

The four categories

A party may depose: (A) any party; (B) any person disclosed as an expert witness under Rule 26.1 (d)(1); (C) any treating physician in a medical malpractice action; and (D) any document custodian in order to secure production of documents and establish evidentiary foundation. Unless all parties agree or the court orders otherwise for good cause, a party may not depose any other person or depose a person who has already been deposed in the action.

Two prohibitions in that last sentence, and both bite hard.

Anyone outside (A) to (D) is off limits without agreement or a good-cause order. The eyewitness, the former employee, the accountant who is not a disclosed expert — each takes a stipulation or a motion.

And nobody is deposed twice. A second session of the same witness needs the same agreement or order, so the one-deposition discipline that South Carolina applies by a different route applies here too.

Note the shape of category (D): a document custodian may be deposed "in order to secure production of documents and establish evidentiary foundation" — a purpose-limited deposition, not a general examination of what the custodian knows.

When you may start

Rule 30(a)(2) restricts an early plaintiff: "A plaintiff must obtain leave of court to take a deposition earlier than 30 days after serving the summons and complaint on any defendant," subject to the usual exceptions where the defendant has already sought discovery or the witness is about to become unavailable.

A party served with an accelerated notice who "was unable, despite diligent efforts, to obtain counsel to represent it at a deposition" is protected against the deposition being used against it.

Incarcerated witnesses need permission from one of two sources: "a party may depose an incarcerated person only by agreement of the person's custodian or by leave of court." The custodian's agreement is an alternative to a court order, which is quicker where it can be obtained.

Compelling attendance

Rule 30(a)(3) draws the same line as most states, and it is worth reading against the categories above: "A party may compel a nonparty deponent's attendance by serving a subpoena under Rule 45." A party — or a party's officer, director or managing agent — is compelled by the notice itself.

Where a subpoena is needed, Arizona's subpoena rule carries its own machinery: the county-or-40-miles limit, the consultation certificate before any motion, and the rule that the requesting party pays for a privilege log. See Arizona subpoenas.

The notice, and one modern requirement

Rule 30(b)(1) requires written notice to every other party, and adds a line many states still lack:

The notice must state whether the noticing party intends to take the deposition in person or remotely.

The format is disclosed up front rather than negotiated later. For a witness or counsel who needs to travel — or who would rather not — that single sentence is the one to check first on any notice received.

The notice must also identify the deponent, or provide a description sufficient to identify the person or class, where the name is unknown.

Objections: no speaking objections, and no form coaching

Arizona goes further than most states in policing how an objection is made:

objection must be stated concisely, in a nonargumentative manner, and without suggesting an answer to the deponent. Unless requested by the person who asked the question, an objecting person must not specify the defect in the form of a question or answer.

That second sentence is unusual and worth quoting to an opponent who narrates their objections. "Objection, form" is the whole objection unless the questioner asks for more — specifying the defect uninvited is what the rule forbids.

Instructions not to answer are correspondingly narrow: counsel may instruct a deponent not to answer, or a deponent may refuse, "only when necessary to preserve a privilege, to enforce a limit ordered by the court, or to present a motion under Rule 30(d)(3). Otherwise, the deponent must answer, and the testimony is taken subject to any objection."

Stopping or limiting a deposition

Rule 30(d)(3) allows either the witness or a party to move:

At any time during a deposition, the deponent or a party may move to terminate or limit the deposition on the ground that it is being conducted in bad faith or in a manner that unreasonably annoys, embarrasses, or oppresses the deponent or party.

The standard is the same wherever this provision appears — bad faith, or conduct that unreasonably annoys, embarrasses or oppresses the deponent or a party. It is not a remedy for a deposition that is merely long or hostile. The motion goes to the court where the action is pending or the court where the deposition is being taken — and remember Arizona's conferral certificate requirement before any subpoena-related motion applies to that machinery, not to this one.

Deposing an organization

Rule 30(b)(6) allows a party to name an organization as the deponent and describe with reasonable particularity the matters for examination, with the organization designating those who will testify on its behalf.

Read that against the four categories above, because the interaction is easy to miss. An organizational designee testifies for the party, so the deposition sits inside category (A). But once that designee has been deposed, the bar on deposing "a person who has already been deposed in the action" attaches to them personally — so a witness who appears as a Rule 30(b)(6) designee may not be available for a second, individual deposition without agreement or a court order. Decide which examination you actually want before noticing either.

A short checklist

Before noticing one:

1. Check the four categories. If your witness is not a party, a disclosed expert, a treating physician in a malpractice case or a document custodian, you need agreement or an order.
2. Ask for the stipulation first. A good-cause motion is slower than a phone call.
3. Check whether the person has already been deposed — a second deposition needs the same permission.
4. Count 30 days from service before a plaintiff notices anything, unless an exception applies.
5. Get the custodian's agreement for an incarcerated witness, or leave of court.
6. State in the notice whether it is in person or remote.
7. Subpoena non-parties under Rule 45, with its own limits.

Receiving one:

1. Ask which category you fall into. If none, the deposition needs agreement or an order.
2. Check the format line on the notice, and raise travel or technology issues early.
3. Object to a custodian deposition that ranges beyond documents — category (D) is purpose-limited.

Where these rules live

• Ariz. R. Civ. P. 26 — General Provisions Governing Discovery
• Ariz. R. Civ. P. 26.1 — Disclosure
• Ariz. R. Civ. P. 30 — Depositions by oral examination
• Ariz. R. Civ. P. 32 — Using Depositions in Court Proceedings
• Ariz. R. Civ. P. 45 — Subpoena
• Arizona subpoenas
• Arizona motion to compel discovery
• Arizona mandatory disclosure

This page explains what the rules say. It isn't legal advice, and what amounts to good cause for deposing someone outside the four categories is developed in case law this site doesn't cover.