Colorado depositions: you pick the method and pay for it — anyone else who wants another pays too

Colorado settles the two questions that generate most deposition friction — how it will be recorded and who pays — in a single subdivision, and it settles them in favor of whoever noticed the deposition.

The method goes in the notice, and the cost follows it

Rule 30(b)(2):

The party taking the deposition shall state in the notice the method by which the testimony shall be recorded, which, unless the court otherwise orders, may be by sound, sound-and-visual, or stenographic means. Unless the court otherwise orders, the party taking the deposition shall bear the cost of the recording.

Three alternatives, chosen unilaterally by the noticing party — no stipulation as in South Carolina, and no mandatory stenographic backstop as in Idaho. And the party who chooses pays.

Anyone who wants a different record may have one, on the same principle:

With reasonable prior notice to the deponent and other parties, any party may designate another method of recording the testimony of the deponent in addition to the method specified by the person taking the deposition.

Unless the court otherwise orders, each party designating an additional method of recording the testimony of a deponent shall bear the cost thereof.

So the cost structure is clean: the method you ask for is the method you fund. A party who wants video of a deposition noticed as stenographic may add it, gives reasonable prior notice, and pays.

Transcription is available to anyone: "Any party may provide for a transcription to be made from the recording of a deposition taken by non-stenographic means."

Keeping a non-stenographic record usable

Where the recording is not stenographic, Rule 30 imposes two safeguards.

The identifying information — the officer, the action, the date and place, and the deponent's name — must be repeated at intervals: "If the deposition is recorded other than stenographically, items (a) through (c) shall be repeated at the beginning of each unit of recording." A file or tape that begins mid-answer with no identification is not a usable record.

And there is a limit on technique:

The appearance or demeanor of deponents or attorneys shall not be distorted by the use of camera or sound-recording techniques.

The same sentence appears in Nevada's rule. It restrains framing, lens choice and audio processing that would change how a witness — or a lawyer — comes across.

Organizational depositions

Rule 30(b)(6) allows a party to "name as the deponent a public or private corporation, partnership, association, governmental agency" or other organization and describe the matters for examination, with the organization then designating those who will testify on its behalf.

Where the organization is a non-party, attendance is compelled by subpoena under C.R.C.P. 45 — and Colorado's subpoena rule has a fourteen-day service lead time for production, a bar on using a subpoena against a party at all, and a duty to copy every party immediately after service. See Colorado subpoenas.

Attendance and leave

Rule 30(a) provides that "[t]he attendance of witnesses may be compelled by subpoena as provided in C.R.C.P. 45," and that "[l]eave of court must be obtained" in the situations the rule specifies, measured against the discovery limits in C.R.C.P. 26.

Colorado runs a distinctive case-management regime with presumptive discovery limits, so before noticing a deposition it is worth checking what the case management order allows. The Colorado mandatory disclosures guide covers the disclosure side, and the Colorado motion to compel discovery the enforcement side.

Objections during the deposition

Rule 30(c) keeps the deposition moving whatever is objected to:

All objections made at the time of the examination to the qualifications of the officer taking the deposition, to the manner of taking it, to the evidence presented, to the conduct of any party, or in any other respect to the proceedings shall be noted by the officer upon the record of the deposition. Evidence objected to shall be taken subject to the objections.

The design is the same everywhere it appears: note it and carry on. The objection is preserved, the answer is given, and the admissibility question is decided later by the court rather than at the table.

Note the phrase "in any other respect to the proceedings" — the sweep is deliberately wide, so an objection to how the deposition is being conducted is noted on the record like any other.

Stopping or limiting a deposition

Rule 30(d) allows the motion in either of two courts:

At any time during the taking of the deposition, on motion of any party or of the deponent and upon a showing that the examination is being conducted in bad faith or in such manner as unreasonably to annoy, embarrass, or oppress the deponent or party, the court in which the action is pending or the court in the district where the deposition is being taken may order the officer conducting the examination to cease forthwith from taking the deposition

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. Note that the deponent may move as well as a party.

Duration, and what the case management order says

Colorado's Rule 30 does not set a national-style hour limit in the rule itself. The practical limit comes from the case management order and the presumptive discovery limits the court has set, which is why checking that order matters more here than in states with a fixed cap.

Where an examination becomes oppressive rather than merely long, the terminate-or-limit provision above is the remedy. Where the problem is simply that more time is genuinely needed, the answer is a stipulation or an application to modify the limits — not an argument on the record at the deposition itself.

A short checklist

Noticing one:

1. State the method in the notice — sound, sound-and-visual, or stenographic.
2. Budget for it. The party taking the deposition bears the recording cost.
3. Check the case management order for deposition limits before you notice.
4. Subpoena non-parties under C.R.C.P. 45, with its own lead times.
5. Repeat the identifying items at the start of each unit of a non-stenographic recording.

If you want something different:

1. Designate an additional method, with reasonable prior notice to the deponent and the other parties.
2. Expect to pay for it — the additional record is on the party who wants it.
3. Order a transcription from a non-stenographic recording if you need one; any party may.
4. Object to distorting camera or sound work; the rule forbids it in terms.
5. Ask the court to vary the method if the notice's choice is genuinely unsuitable — the rule's defaults all yield to an order.

Where these rules live

• C.R.C.P. 26 — General Provisions Governing Discovery
• C.R.C.P. 28 — Persons Before Whom Depositions May Be Taken
• C.R.C.P. 30 — Depositions Upon Oral Examination
• C.R.C.P. 32 — Use of Depositions in Court Proceedings
• C.R.C.P. 45 — Subpoena
• Colorado subpoenas
• Colorado motion to compel discovery
• Colorado mandatory disclosures

This page explains what the rules say. It isn't legal advice, and the case management order in your own case may limit depositions in ways the rule does not.