Group V: Disclosures and Discovery · Last amended March 1, 2019 · Last verified July 14, 2026
(1) In General. At a hearing or trial, all or part of a deposition may be used against a party on these conditions:
(A) the party was present or represented at the taking of the deposition or had reasonable notice of it;
(B) it is used to the extent it would be admissible under Nevada law of evidence if the deponent were present and testifying; and
(C) the use is allowed by Rule 32(a)(2) through (8).
(2) Impeachment and Other Uses. Any party may use a deposition to contradict or impeach the testimony given by the deponent as a witness, or for any other purpose allowed by Nevada law of evidence.
(3) Deposition of Party, Agent, or Designee. An adverse party may use for any purpose the deposition of a party or anyone who, when deposed, was the party’s officer, director, managing agent, or designee under Rule 30(b)(6) or 31(a)(4).
(4) Unavailable Witness. A party may use for any purpose the deposition of a witness, whether or not a party, if the court finds:
(A) that the witness is dead;
(B) that the witness is more than 100 miles from the place of hearing or trial or is out of the state, unless it appears that the witness’s absence was procured by the party offering the deposition;
(C) that the witness cannot attend or testify because of age, illness, infirmity, or imprisonment;
(D) that the party offering the deposition could not procure the witness’s attendance by subpoena; or
(E) on motion and notice, that exceptional circumstances make it desirable—in the interest of justice and with due regard to the importance of live testimony in open court—to permit the deposition to be used.
(5) Limitations on Use.
(A) Deposition Taken on Short Notice. A deposition must not be used against a party who, having received less than 14 days’ notice of the deposition, promptly moved for a protective order under Rule 26(c)(1)(B) requesting that it not be taken or be taken at a different time or place—and this motion was still pending when the deposition was taken.
(B) Unavailable Deponent; Party Could Not Obtain an Attorney.
(i) A deposition taken without leave of court under the unavailability provision of Rule 30(a)(2)(A)(iii) must not be used against a party who shows that, when served with the notice, it could not, despite diligent efforts, obtain an attorney to represent it at the deposition.
(ii) Notwithstanding Rule 32(a)(5)(B)(i), the court may permit a deposition to be used against a party who proceeds pro se after the deposition.
(6) Using Part of a Deposition. If a party offers in evidence only part of a deposition, an adverse party may require the offeror to introduce other parts that in fairness should be considered with the part introduced, and any party may itself introduce any other parts.
(7) Substituting a Party. Substituting a party under Rule 25 does not affect the right to use a deposition previously taken.
(8) Deposition Taken in an Earlier Action. A deposition lawfully taken and, if required, filed in any federal- or state-court action may be used in a later action involving the same subject matter between the same parties, or their representatives or successors in interest, to the same extent as if taken in the later action. A deposition previously taken may also be used as allowed by Nevada law of evidence.
(b) Objections to Admissibility. Subject to Rules 28(b) and 32(d)(3), an objection may be made at a hearing or trial to the admission of any deposition testimony that would be inadmissible if the witness were present and testifying.
(c) Form of Presentation. Unless the court orders otherwise, a party must provide a transcript of any deposition testimony the party offers, but may provide the court with the testimony in nontranscript form as well. On any party’s request, deposition testimony offered in a jury trial for any purpose other than impeachment must be presented in nontranscript form, if available, unless the court for good cause orders otherwise.
(d) Waiver of Objections.
(1) To the Notice. An objection to an error or irregularity in a deposition notice is waived unless promptly served in writing on the party giving the notice.
(2) To the Officer’s Qualification. An objection based on disqualification of the officer before whom a deposition is to be taken is waived if not made:
(A) before the deposition begins; or
(B) promptly after the basis for disqualification becomes known or, with reasonable diligence, could have been known.
(3) To the Taking of the Deposition.
(A) Objection to Competence, Relevance, or Materiality. An objection to a deponent’s competence—or to the competence, relevance, or materiality of testimony-is not waived by a failure to make the objection before or during the deposition, unless the ground for it might have been corrected at that time.
(B) Objection to an Error or Irregularity. An objection to an error or irregularity at an oral examination is waived if:
(i) it relates to the manner of taking the deposition, the form of a question or answer, the oath or affirmation, a party’s conduct, or other matters that might have been corrected at that time; and
(ii) it is not timely made during the deposition.
(C) Objection to a Written Question. An objection to the form of a written question under Rule 31 is waived if not served in writing on the party submitting the question within the time for serving responsive questions or, if the question is a recross-question, within 7 days after being served with it.
(4) To Completing and Returning the Deposition. An objection to how the officer transcribed the testimony—or prepared, signed, certified, sealed, endorsed, sent, or otherwise dealt with the deposition—is waived unless a motion to suppress is made promptly after the error or irregularity becomes known or, with reasonable diligence, could have been known.
Amended eff. 9-27-71; Amended 12-13-85, eff. 2-11-86; Amended eff. 1-1-05; Amended eff. 3-1-19.
A deposition is testimony taken before trial, under oath, with a court reporter or recorder present. Rule 32 answers a question that only comes up later: once you have that transcript or recording in hand, when can you use it in front of the judge or jury? The basic requirement is fairness. The party against whom the deposition is offered had to have been there, represented, or given reasonable notice, and the testimony has to be the kind Nevada evidence law would let in if the witness were on the stand live. Beyond that baseline, the rule sorts uses into categories: any party can use a deposition to catch a witness contradicting an earlier statement, an opponent can use a party's own deposition testimony against that party for any purpose, and anyone can use the deposition of a witness who is truly unavailable — dead, too far away, too sick, or beyond the reach of a subpoena — as a stand-in for live testimony. A court can also allow a deposition's use in rarer circumstances where justice calls for it, even though live testimony is still the preferred way to prove a case.
The rule also protects a party who did not get a fair shot at the deposition itself. Testimony taken on short notice cannot be used against a party who promptly asked for a protective order and was still waiting on a ruling when the deposition went forward. And a deposition taken without a lawyer present, because the witness was unavailable and the deposing party used the no-leave procedure for that situation, cannot be used against a party who tried hard but failed to line up counsel in time.
The last piece of Rule 32 is about waiver — losing the right to object. Some objections have to be raised immediately, during the deposition, or they disappear: complaints about how a question was phrased, the manner of the examination, or an irregularity that could have been fixed on the spot if someone had spoken up. Other objections survive even if nobody said anything at the time, because they go to whether the testimony is the kind of evidence a court should hear at all — objections to a witness's competence or to the relevance of the testimony can wait until trial. Getting this distinction right matters: raise the wrong kind of objection too late, and a court may treat you as having accepted testimony you meant to fight.