South Carolina depositions: one per witness, per case

South Carolina's Rule 30 is the longest deposition rule on this site, and its most consequential sentence is also its shortest. You get one deposition of each person. Plan the whole examination around that.

One deposition, one chance

The deposition of any party or witness may only be taken one time in any case except by agreement of the parties through their counsel or by order of the court for good cause shown.

There is no federal equivalent. Elsewhere a second session is a scheduling problem; here it requires either agreement of the parties through their counsel or an order on good cause shown.

Three practical consequences.

Do not depose early to "lock in" a witness. A short exploratory deposition consumes the only one you have.

Get documents first. A deposition taken before production is a deposition taken without the exhibits.

If you must stop, get the agreement on the record. An adjournment by consent is worth far more here than elsewhere, because resuming without it needs a motion.

When you may start, and the small-case exception

Rule 30(a)(1) allows a deposition "[a]fter commencement of an action," with the usual restriction on an early plaintiff: leave of court "must be obtained only if the plaintiff seeks to take a deposition prior to the expiration of 30 days after service of summons and complaint upon any defendant," subject to the standard exceptions.

Then a limit that catches people in smaller cases:

This rule shall not apply to those cases where the amount in controversy is less than the sum of $ 10,000.00, unless the parties or their counsel agree otherwise, or unless the court should so order upon good cause shown.

Below $10,000 the rule does not operate at all unless the parties agree or the court orders it. Check the amount in controversy before noticing anything.

Where a deposition happens

Rule 30(b) distinguishes witnesses from parties:

A witness may be compelled to attend in the county in which he resides or is employed or transacts his business in person, or at such other convenient place as is fixed by an order of the court. A party may be compelled to attend in the county in which the subject civil action is pending, or in the county in which he resides or is employed or transacts business, or at such other convenient place as is fixed by an order of the court.

A party can be brought to the courthouse county; a stranger to the case cannot. Both yield to a court order fixing a convenient place.

Fees

The same subdivision sets the witness's entitlement: a witness attending a deposition "shall receive for each day's attendance and for the time necessarily occupied in going to and returning from the same, $ 25.00 per day, and mileage for going from and returning to his place of residence." Note that the daily fee covers travel time as well as attendance — a detail worth raising if you are the witness.

The same $25 figure appears in South Carolina's subpoena rule, tendered on arrival.

Telephone depositions happen where the witness is

Rule 30(b)(7) settles a question that produces argument elsewhere:

a deposition taken by telephone is taken at the same place where the deponent is to answer questions propounded to him. The notary before whom the deposition is taken shall be at the same place as the deponent during the taking of the deposition.

Two rules in two sentences. The deposition is legally located where the deponent sits — which matters for the county limits above, and for Rules 28(a), 37(a)(1), 37(b)(1) and 45(d), all of which the rule names. And the notary must be physically with the deponent, not with the examining lawyer.

The examination itself

Rule 30(c) imports the trial standard with two carve-outs:

Examination and cross-examination of witnesses may proceed as permitted at the trial under the provisions of the South Carolina Rules of Evidence except Rules 103 and 615.

Rule 103 governs rulings on evidence and offers of proof; Rule 615 is the exclusion of witnesses. Neither applies at a deposition — so there is no sequestration right, and no need to make a formal offer of proof when an objection is lodged.

Rule 30(d) supplies the motion to terminate or limit the examination where it is being conducted in bad faith or so as unreasonably to annoy, embarrass or oppress the deponent.

Recording it another way

Rule 30(b)(4) allows non-stenographic recording by stipulation or order:

The parties may stipulate in writing or the court may upon motion order that the testimony at a deposition be recorded by other than stenographic means. The stipulation or order shall designate the person before whom the deposition shall be taken, the manner of recording, preserving and filing the deposition, and may include other provisions to assure that the recorded testimony will be accurate and trustworthy.

South Carolina has not moved to the federal default in which the noticing party simply chooses the method. Here it takes a written stipulation or an order — and any party "may arrange to have a stenographic transcription made at his own expense."

Videotape: only in six-figure cases

Rule 30(h) is unusually restrictive:

The provisions of this rule apply only to civil actions in which the prayer for relief involves an amount of one hundred thousand dollars or more or in which the court has granted permission for the use of videotape by court order.

Below that threshold, videotaping requires a court order. Above it, the rule prescribes a detailed protocol: notice of the videotaping in the written notice of deposition, an identification sign recorded at the start showing "the caption of the action, the docket number of the action, the name of the deponent, the date, the time, and the name of the officer," the operator reading that information aloud, each participant identifying themselves on camera with name, address and role, and the oath administered on camera.

Note also that videotaping is in addition to, not instead of, a stenographic transcript — the rule contemplates testimony "taken stenographically and transcribed" as well — though the parties may agree that no written transcript will be presented for a particular deposition.

After the deposition

Rule 30(f) keeps the original in the officer's hands, not the court's. The officer certifies that the witness was duly sworn and that the deposition is a true record of the testimony, then "shall securely seal the deposition in an envelope endorsed with the title of the action and marked 'Deposition of (herein insert name of witness)'" and send it to the custodian. The original is filed with the clerk only "when the same is to be used at a hearing or at trial."

And there is an expiry: "One year after final termination of an action in which a deposition has been taken, the party taking the deposition or the clerk of court, as the case may be, may destroy" it.

A short checklist

Before noticing one:

1. Check the amount in controversy. Under $10,000 the rule does not apply without agreement or order.
2. Treat it as your only deposition of that person. Get documents first.
3. Pick the right county — a non-party's own; a party's own or the action county.
4. Count 30 days from service before a plaintiff notices one, unless an exception applies.
5. Stipulate in writing if you want non-stenographic recording.
6. Check the six-figure threshold before planning to videotape.

On the day:

1. Put the notary with the witness on a telephone deposition, and remember the deposition is located there.
2. Do not expect to exclude other witnesses — Rule 615 does not apply.
3. Get any adjournment on the record by agreement, or you will need a motion to resume.
4. Follow the videotape protocol exactly if you are recording — identification sign, spoken identification, participants on camera, oath on camera.

Where these rules live

• S.C. R. Civ. P. 26 — General Provisions Governing Discovery
• S.C. R. Civ. P. 28 — Persons Before Whom Depositions May Be Taken
• S.C. R. Civ. P. 30 — Depositions upon oral examination
• S.C. R. Civ. P. 32 — Use of Depositions in Court Proceedings
• S.C. R. Civ. P. 45 — Subpoena
• South Carolina subpoenas
• South Carolina motion to compel discovery

This page explains what the rules say. It isn't legal advice, and what amounts to good cause for a second deposition is developed in case law this site doesn't cover.