(a) Failure of party giving notice to attend. — If the party giving notice of the taking of a deposition on oral examination fails to attend and proceed and another party attends pursuant to the notice, the court may order the party giving the notice to pay to the other party the reasonable expenses incurred in attending, including reasonable attorney’s fees.
Rule 2-434.Expenses for failure to pursue deposition
Circuit Court · Not amended since adoption on record · Last verified July 13, 2026
In one sentenceRule 2-434 makes a party pay the other side's reasonable expenses, including attorney's fees, when it notices a deposition and then either fails to show up or fails to subpoena the witness it named, leaving everyone else who did show up empty-handed.
Full Text of Rule 2-434
(b) Failure to subpoena witness. — If the party giving notice of the taking of a deposition of a witness fails to serve a subpoena upon the witness who for that reason does not attend and another party attends pursuant to the notice, the court may order the party giving the notice to pay to the other party the reasonable expenses incurred in attending, including reasonable attorney’s fees.
Committee Note & Source
Source. This Rule is derived from former Rule 414.
Plain-English Summary
Rule 2-434 covers two narrow but common ways a noticed deposition can go wrong. The first is when the party who noticed the deposition doesn't attend, while another party shows up ready to proceed. The second is when the noticing party fails to serve a subpoena on the witness it wants to depose, so the witness never appears, again leaving another party sitting at an empty table. In either situation, the court can order the party who caused the wasted trip to pay the other side's reasonable expenses in attending, including reasonable attorney's fees.
The rule is narrower than Maryland's general discovery-sanctions rule, Rule 2-433: it targets the specific waste of a deposition that never happens because the noticing party dropped the ball, not the broader universe of discovery failures. It doesn't require a prior motion to compel or a court order before the expense-shifting remedy is available; the failure to attend or to subpoena the witness is itself what the court can act on.
Frequently Asked Questions
What happens if I notice a deposition in Maryland and then don't show up?
Under Rule 2-434(a), if you notice a deposition and fail to attend, and another party shows up ready to proceed, the court can order you to pay that party's reasonable expenses for attending, including reasonable attorney's fees.
Can I recover fees if I show up for a deposition but the witness never appears?
Yes, if the reason the witness didn't appear is that the party who noticed the deposition failed to subpoena the witness. Rule 2-434(b) lets the court order that party to pay the reasonable expenses, including attorney's fees, of the party who showed up pursuant to the notice.
Is Rule 2-434 the same as the general discovery sanctions rule?
No. Rule 2-434 is a narrower, self-contained remedy for two specific deposition failures: not attending your own noticed deposition, and not subpoenaing a witness you noticed for deposition. Rule 2-433 covers the broader range of sanctions for failures of discovery generally and for disobeying an order compelling discovery.
Source & verification. Rule text, Committee Note, Source note, and
amendment history are reproduced verbatim from the Maryland Rules, adopted by the
Supreme Court of Maryland. Last verified July 13, 2026. ·
Official source
Also known as: deposition no-show marylandfailure to attend deposition marylandexpenses for missed deposition marylandfailure to subpoena witness depositiondeposition sanctions maryland