(a) Signing. The deposition shall be submitted to the witness for examination and shall be read to or by him or her, and any changes in form or substance which the witness desires to make shall be entered at the end of the deposition with a statement of the reasons given by the witness for making them. The deposition shall then be signed by the witness before any officer authorized to administer an oath. If the witness fails to sign and return the deposition within sixty days, it may be used as fully as though signed. No changes to the transcript may be made by the witness more than sixty days after submission to the witness for examination.
R 3116.Signing deposition; physical preparation; copies.
Article 31. Disclosure · Last amended 1997 · Last verified July 21, 2026
In one sentenceCPLR 3116 governs what happens after deposition testimony is taken — the witness's review and signature, the officer's certification and filing, handling of exhibits, allocation of expenses, and the deadline for challenging errors by the officer or transcriber.
Full Text of CPLR 3116
(b) Certification and Filing by Officer. The officer before whom the deposition was taken shall certify on the deposition that the witness was duly sworn by him and that the deposition is a true record of the testimony given by the witness. He shall list all appearances by the parties and attorneys. If the deposition was taken on written questions, he shall attach to it the copy of the notice and written questions received by him. He shall then securely seal the deposition in an envelope endorsed with the title of the action and the index number of the action, if one has been assigned, and marked “Deposition of (here insert name of witness)” and shall promptly file it with, or send it by registered or certified mail to the clerk of the court where the case is to be tried. The deposition shall always be open to the inspection of the parties, each of whom is entitled to make copies thereof. If a copy of the deposition is furnished to each party or if the parties stipulate to waive filing, the officer need not file the original but may deliver it to the party taking the deposition.
(c) Exhibits. Documentary evidence exhibited before the officer or exhibits marked for identification during the examination of the witness shall be annexed to and returned with the deposition. However, if requested by the party producing documentary evidence or on exhibit, the officer shall mark it for identification as an exhibit in the case, give each party an opportunity to copy or inspect it, and return it to the party offering it, and it may then be used in the same manner as if annexed to and returned with the deposition.
(d) Expenses of Taking. Unless the court orders otherwise, the party taking the deposition shall bear the expense thereof.
(e) Errors of Officer or Person Transcribing. Errors and irregularities of the officer or the person transcribing the deposition are waived unless a motion to suppress the deposition or some part thereof is made with reasonable promptness after such defect is, or with due diligence might have been, ascertained.
Plain-English Summary
Subdivision (a) gives the witness a chance to review the transcript before it becomes final. The deposition is read to or by the witness, who can note any changes in form or substance at the end along with the reasons for making them, and then sign it before an officer authorized to administer oaths. If the witness does not sign and return it within sixty days, the transcript can still be used as though it had been signed, and no changes can be made after that sixty-day window closes — a firm deadline that keeps a deposition from staying open-ended indefinitely.
Subdivision (b) puts the administrative closing steps on the officer who took the deposition: certifying that the witness was sworn and that the transcript truly reflects the testimony given, listing everyone who appeared, attaching the written questions if the deposition was taken on written questions, and then sealing the transcript in an envelope labeled with the case caption and index number before filing it with the court or sending it by registered or certified mail. If a copy has already gone to each party, or the parties stipulate to skip filing, the officer can hand the original to the party who took the deposition instead. Subdivision (c) covers exhibits used during the examination — they get annexed to and returned with the deposition, though a party who wants their exhibit back sooner can have it marked for identification, let the other side copy or inspect it, and take it back, still usable later as if it had stayed attached.
Subdivision (d) puts the cost of taking the deposition on the party who took it, unless the court orders otherwise, and subdivision (e) closes with its own waiver rule: errors or irregularities by the officer or the person transcribing the deposition are waived unless a motion to suppress is made with reasonable promptness after the defect is discovered or should have been discovered. That mirrors the waiver framework in section 3115, but is aimed specifically at mistakes made in producing the transcript rather than mistakes made during the examination itself.
Frequently Asked Questions
Does a witness get to review and change their deposition testimony in New York?
Yes. Subdivision (a) lets the witness note changes in form or substance at the end of the transcript, along with reasons, before signing it, and requires signature and return within sixty days or the transcript can be used as though signed.
What happens if a witness never signs their deposition transcript?
If sixty days pass without the witness signing and returning it, the transcript can be used as fully as if it had been signed, and no further changes can be made after that sixty-day period.
What does the officer who took the deposition have to do afterward?
Certify that the witness was sworn and that the transcript is a true record of the testimony, list all appearances, attach any written questions used, seal the transcript with the case caption and index number, and file it with the court or send it by registered or certified mail — unless the parties have arranged to skip filing.
Who pays for taking a deposition in New York?
The party who took the deposition, unless the court orders a different allocation.
What happens to exhibits used during a New York deposition?
They are annexed to and returned with the deposition transcript, though a party can instead have an exhibit marked for identification, let other parties inspect or copy it, and take it back sooner, with the same effect as if it had stayed attached.
How do I challenge an error made by the court reporter or officer at a deposition?
Move to suppress the deposition, or the affected part of it, with reasonable promptness after discovering the defect or after you should have discovered it with due diligence. Waiting too long waives the objection under subdivision (e).
Advisory Committee Notes
Subd (a) of this rule is substantially the same as New Jersey rule 4:20-5. CPA § 302 provided for the penalty of damages if a witness unreasonably refused to sign; where a party refused to sign he might have his pleadings stricken. The subdivision has been rewritten so that it will not be necessary for the witness to reappear before the officer taking the deposition in order to sign it. He may sign it before any officer authorized to administer an oath.
Subd (b) of this rule is based on New Jersey rule 4:20-6(a). It is similar to RCP 130 and 131 which applied only to depositions taken outside the state. The second sentence is taken from subd 4(c) of RCP 130. The third sentence is found in Federal rule 31(b). The term “certified mail” has been added. Where the clerk receives the deposition by mail he will file it. Once filed, the deposition will be open to inspection, absent an order under CPLR § 3103. The last sentence is new but it is based upon former New York practice. Compare subd (d) of this rule, which would make this procedure the normal one for the officer to follow. The words “if one has been assigned” were added after “index number of the action” in the fourth sentence because some counties do not use the index number system and in others no index number will be assigned until some paper in the action has been filed.
Subd (c) of this rule is the same as New Jersey rule 4:20-6(b), except that the phrase “proved or identified by” was replaced by “marked for identification during the examination of,” and the phrase “received in evidence” was replaced by “used in the same manner,” to conform to change in CPLR rule 3111. See notes to rule 3111.
Subd (d) of this rule is new. It covers the vast majority of cases where there is only one plaintiff and one defendant and it reflects the former New York practice in such cases. Where the case is complex and the parties cannot agree, the court will have to decide how the expenses of taking depositions should be allocated. The court may order that the expense of the transportation or of reproducing copies be paid by one or more of the parties, or that it be apportioned among them or that it be assessed as costs in the action. Without an order such expenses will not be taxable.
Subd (e) of this rule is substantially the same as Federal rule 32(d). It should be read together with CPLR § 3103(c).
1993 Recommendations of Advisory Committee on Civil Practice:
Rule 3116(a).
The amendment would eliminate the requirement that a deposition be signed by the officer before whom it was taken if the witness fails or refuses to sign it. The requirement, which is inconvenient to comply with if the officer is not readily located, serves no significant purpose, since the officer must in any even rely upon representations or statements of a party or the witness as to the fact that the latter failed or refused to sign the deposition and the reasons therefor.
1996 Recommendations of Advisory Committee on Civil Practice:
The Committee recommends the amendment of CPLR 3116(a) to require that a deponent make any changes he or she wishes to make to the transcript within sixty days from the date the deposition is submitted to the witness.
The Committee believes that once sixty days have elapsed from the date the deposition transcript is submitted to the witness, the party taking the deposition should be able to rely upon the deposition as final while that party prepares for trial. Last-minute changes in the deposition transcript may be unfair to the party who took the deposition.
Nothing in section one of this proposal is intended to preclude a witness from testifying differently at a later date or to relieve a party of its duty of correcting incorrect or missing disclosure responses under CPLR 3101(h).
In addition, the Committee recommends that CPLR 3117(a)(2), relating to the use of depositions, be amended to provide that the deposition of a party or of any person who was a party when the deposition was taken or of any person who, at the time of taking the deposition, was an officer, director, member, or managing or authorized agent of a party or of an entity which was a party when the deposition was taken, or the deposition of an employee of a party produced at the taking of the deposition by that party or former party, may be used for any purpose by any party (1) who was adversely interested when the deposition was taken or (2) who is adversely interested as of the time the deposition testimony is offered in evidence.
CPLR 3117 no allows the deposition of a party to the action to be used at trial (or at a hearing, etc.) by “any adversely interested party.” CPLR 3117(a)(2). This subdivision was recently amended (at this Committee’s suggestion) to provide that, as to agents and employees of a party, a deposition may be used at trial where the deponent was an agent or employee of a party as of the time that the deposition was taken (and not necessarily at the time of the trial as well). This proposal further refines that amendment to address the realities of litigation.
The case law generally holds that, in order for the deposition to qualify for admission under CPLR 3117(a)(2), the proponent of the deposition must be adversely interested to the deponent as of the time of trial. Thus, if the proponent was adversely interested to the deponent when the deposition was taken, and if the deponent (or the deponent’s employer) subsequently settled, the deposition then could not be introduced pursuant to subdivision (a)(2), either by plaintiff or by anyone else, since none of the remaining parties would now be adverse to the deponent settlor. * State University Construction Fund v. Kipphut & Neuman Co., Inc., 159 A.D.2d 1003, 552 N.Y.S.2d 471 (4th Dep’t 1990); Nedball v. Tellefsen, 102 Misc.2d 589, 424 N.Y.S.2d 93 (Sup. Ct., Queens Co., 1980). But see Iheme v Simmons, 148 Misc.2d 223, 560 N.Y.S.2d 167 (Civil Ct., Richmond Co., 1990). The same would presumably apply if the party deposed thereafter obtained summary judgment prior to the trail of the action.
This rule, limiting use of the depositions of formerly adverse parties, is undesirable in two respects. Such rule often deprives the trier of fact to reliable evidence, inasmuch as the proof, if reliable in the first place, is surely no less * The disposition still conceivably could be admitted on other grounds, for example unavailability. And it still could be used to impeach pursuant to CPLR 4514.
reliable merely because the deponent (or deponent’s employer) subsequently settled or obtained summary judgment. The evidentiary rule may also deter settlement: a party (e.g., plaintiff) who wants to rely upon a defendant’s deposition testimony at trial may be deterred from settling with that defendant since such course would prevent plaintiff from then utilizing that deposition testimony at trial may be deterred from settling with that defendant since such course would prevent plaintiff from then utilizing that deposition testimony at trial.
Section two of the proposed bill would amend CPLR 3117 to alleviate the problem: the deposition would become admissible pursuant to subdivision (a)(2) upon application of a party who was adverse to deponent (or adverse to the party for whom the deponent appeared) as of the date of the deposition. Post-deposition settlement of the deponent (or of the deponent’s employer) no longer would bar admission of the deposition.
Amendment History
Add, L 1962, ch 308, eff Sept 1, 1963; amd, L 1978, ch 292, § 1; L 1993, ch 98, § 7, eff Jan 1, 1994; L 1996, ch 117, § 1, eff Jan 1, 1997.
Source & verification. Provision text, History, and Advisory
Committee Notes are reproduced verbatim from the Consolidated Laws of New York.
Last verified July 21, 2026.
· Official source
Also known as: deposition signature deadline New Yorksixty day rule deposition transcript New Yorkcertify deposition officer New Yorkdeposition transcript errata sheet New Yorkwho pays for a deposition New York