(a) When Depositions May Be Taken; When Leave Required.
(1) Any party may take the testimony of any person, including a party, by deposition upon oral examination without leave of court except as provided in paragraph (2). The attendance of witnesses may be compelled by subpoena as provided in Rule 45.
(2) A party must obtain leave of court, which shall be granted to the extent consistent with the principles stated in Rule 26(b)(1), if the person to be examined is confined in prison or if, without the written stipulation of the parties:
(A) The person to be examined already has been deposed in the case; or
(B) A plaintiff seeks to take a deposition prior to the expiration of thirty (30) days after service of process on any defendant or the filing of a waiver of service, except that leave is not required:
(i) If a defendant has served notice of taking deposition or otherwise sought discovery; or
(ii) If the notice served by a plaintiff contains a certification, with supporting facts, that the person to be examined is expected to leave the State of Rhode Island and be unavailable for examination in this State unless deposed before that time.
(b) Notice of Examination: General Requirements; Special Notice; Method of Recording; Production of Documents and Things; Deposition of Organization; Deposition by Telephone.
(1) A party desiring to take the deposition of any person upon oral examination shall give reasonable notice in writing to every other party to the action. The notice shall state the time and place for taking the deposition and the name and address of each person to be examined, if known, and, if the name is not known, a general description sufficient to identify the person or the particular class or group to which the person belongs. If a subpoena duces tecum is to be served on the person to be examined, the designation of the materials to be produced as set forth in the subpoena shall be attached to or included in the notice.
(2) The party taking the deposition shall state in the notice the method by which the testimony shall be recorded. Unless the court orders otherwise, it may be recorded by sound, sound-and-visual, or stenographic means, and the party taking the deposition shall bear the cost of the recording. Any party may arrange for a transcription to be made from the recording of a deposition taken by non- stenographic means.
(3) With prior notice to the deponent and other parties, any party may designate another method to record the deponent's testimony in addition to the method specified by the person taking the deposition. The additional record or transcript shall be made at that party's expense unless the court otherwise orders.
(4) Unless otherwise agreed by the parties, a deposition shall be conducted before an officer appointed or designated under Rule 28 and shall begin with a statement on the record by the officer that includes:
(A) The officer's name and business address;
(B) The date, time, and place of the deposition;
(C) The name of the deponent;
(D) The administration of the oath or affirmation to the deponent; and
(E) An identification of all persons present. If the deposition is recorded other than stenographically, the officer shall repeat items (A) through (C) at the beginning of each unit of recorded tape or other recording medium. The appearance or demeanor of deponents or attorneys shall not be distorted through camera or sound-recording techniques. At the end of the deposition, the officer shall state on the record that the deposition is complete and shall set forth any stipulations made by counsel concerning the custody of the transcript or recording and the exhibits, or concerning other pertinent matters.
(5) If documents are requested to be produced at a deposition, the notice to a party deponent shall be accompanied by a copy of a subpoena duces tecum or a request made in compliance with Rule 34 for the production of documents and tangible things at the taking of the deposition. The procedures of Rules 34 and 45, respectively, shall apply to the request.
(6) A party may in the witness' notice or in a subpoena name as the deponent a public, private, or governmental organization and describe with reasonable particularity the matters on which examination is requested. In that event, the organization so named shall serve and file, prior to the deposition, a written designation which identifies one or more officers, directors, or managing agents, or other persons who consent to testify on its behalf, and shall set forth, for each person designated the matters on which the person will testify. A subpoena shall advise a non-party organization of its duty to make such a designation. The person so designated shall testify as to matters known or reasonably available to the organization. This subdivision (b)(6) does not preclude taking a deposition by any other procedure authorized in these rules.
(7) The parties may stipulate in writing or the court may upon motion order that a deposition be taken by telephone or other remote electronic means. For the purposes of this rule and Rules 28(a), 37(a)(1), and 37(b)(1), a deposition taken by such means is taken in the county and at the place where the deponent is to answer questions.
(c) Examination and Cross-examination; Record of Examination; Oath; Objections. Examination and cross-examination of witnesses may proceed as permitted at the trial under the provisions of the applicable Rhode Island Rules of Evidence except Rules 103 and 615. Subject to a contrary court order or agreement of the parties, no person whose presence at a deposition has been requested by any attorney of record or self-represented litigant shall be excluded from attending the deposition. However, attendance at depositions of persons other than the deposition officer (reporter), the witness, attorneys, and parties to the action shall not be permitted unless notice of same has been given to all attorneys of record and self- represented litigants at least forty-eight (48) hours before the deposition. The officer before whom the deposition is to be taken or, in a non-stenographic deposition, the examining attorney or self-represented litigant, shall put the witness on oath or affirmation and shall in person, or by someone acting under such person's direction and in such person's presence, record the testimony of the witness. The testimony shall be taken stenographically or recorded by any other means in accordance with subdivision (b)(2) of this rule. All objections made at the time of the examination to the qualifications of the officer taking the deposition, or to the manner of taking it, to the evidence presented, to the conduct of any party, or to any other aspect of the proceedings, shall be noted by the officer upon the record of the deposition, but the examination shall proceed with the testimony being taken subject to the objections. In lieu of participating in the oral examination, parties may serve written questions in a sealed envelope on the party taking the deposition and that party shall transmit them to the officer, who shall propound them to the witness and record the answers verbatim.
(d) Schedule and Duration; Motion to Terminate or Limit Examination.
(1) Any objection to evidence during a deposition shall be stated concisely and in a non-argumentative and non-suggestive manner. A person may instruct a deponent not to answer only when necessary to preserve a privilege, to enforce a limitation on evidence directed by the court, or to present a motion under paragraph (3).
(2) By order, the court may limit the time permitted for the conduct of a deposition, but shall allow additional time consistent with Rule 26(b)(1) if needed for a fair examination of the deponent or if the deponent or another party impedes or delays the examination. If the court finds such an impediment, delay, or other conduct that has frustrated the fair examination of the deponent, it may impose upon the persons responsible an appropriate sanction, including the reasonable costs and attorney's fees incurred by any parties as a result thereof.
(3) At any time during a deposition, on motion of a 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 county where the deposition is being taken may order the officer or examining attorney conducting the examination to cease forthwith from taking the deposition or may limit the scope and manner of the taking of the deposition as provided in Rule 26(c). If the order made terminates the examination, it shall be resumed thereafter only upon the order of the court in which the action is pending. Upon demand of the objecting party or deponent, the taking of the deposition shall be suspended for the time necessary to make a motion for an order or to obtain a ruling by telephone. The provisions of Rule 37(a)(4) apply to the award of expenses incurred in relation to the motion.
(e) Review by Witness; Changes; Signing. If requested by the deponent or a party before completion of the deposition, the deponent shall have thirty (30) days after being notified by the officer that the transcript or recording is available in which to review the transcript or recording and, if there are changes in form or substance, to sign a statement reciting such changes and the reasons given by the deponent for making them. The officer shall indicate in the certificate prescribed by subdivision
(f) (1) whether any review was requested and, if so, shall append any changes made by the deponent during the period allowed.
(f) Certification and Filing by Officer; Opening.
(1) The officer or, in a non-stenographic deposition, the examining attorney or self-represented litigant, shall certify on the deposition transcript that the witness was duly sworn and that the transcript is a true record of the testimony given by the witness. Unless otherwise ordered by the court, the original deposition transcript shall not be filed with the court. Rather, the self-represented litigant, examining attorney, or the attorney ordering a stenographic transcription shall securely seal the original deposition transcript in an envelope indorsed with the title of the action and marked “Deposition of [here insert name of witness]” and shall retain the original transcript, subject to making it available to the court or any other party upon request. Documents and things produced for inspection during the examination of the witness, shall, upon the request of a party, be marked for identification and annexed to the deposition, and may be inspected and copied by any party, except that if the person producing the materials desires to retain them the person may:
(A) Offer copies to be marked for identification and annexed to the deposition and to serve thereafter as originals, if the party affords to all parties fair opportunity to verify the copies by comparison with the originals; or
(B) Offer the originals to be marked for identification, after giving to each party an opportunity to inspect and copy them, in which event the materials may then be used in the same manner as if annexed to the deposition.
Any party may move for an order that the original be annexed to and returned with the deposition to the court, pending final disposition of the case.
(2) Upon payment of reasonable charges therefor, the officer shall furnish a copy of the deposition to any party or to the deponent.
(3) Upon being filed, the deposition shall be open to inspection until such time as it is returned by the court to the examining attorney, unless otherwise ordered by the court.
(g) Failure to Attend or to Serve Subpoena; Expenses.
(1) If the party giving the notice of the taking of a deposition fails to attend and proceed therewith and another party attends in person or by attorney pursuant to the notice, the court may order the party giving the notice to pay to such other party the amount of the reasonable expenses incurred by the party and the party's attorney in so attending, including reasonable attorney's fees.
(2) If the party giving the notice of the taking of a deposition of a witness fails to serve a subpoena upon the witness and the witness because of such failure does not attend, and if another party attends in person or by attorney because that party expects the deposition of that witness to be taken, the court may order the party giving the notice to pay to such other party the amount of the reasonable expenses incurred by the other party and that party's attorney in so attending, including reasonable attorney's fees.
Rhode Island does not publish a per-rule amendment history inside the compiled rules text reproduced here. The text above is verified current through the source’s own February 2024 printing; for the underlying adopting orders and any later amendments, see the Rhode Island Judiciary’s compiled rules page.
Rule 30 covers depositions where someone answers questions out loud, under oath, on the record. Any party can depose any person — including another party — without asking the court first, with a few exceptions: if the witness is already in prison, if that person has already been deposed once in the case, or if a plaintiff wants to depose someone before thirty days have passed since serving the defendant. That last restriction has its own escape hatches: it does not apply once the defendant has already sought discovery, or if the plaintiff can show the witness is about to leave Rhode Island and might not be available later.
The party noticing the deposition has to give reasonable written notice stating the time, place, and who will be examined, and must say up front how the testimony will be recorded — by sound, video, or stenographic transcription. Whoever notices the deposition pays for that recording; anyone else who wants an additional method of recording pays for that themselves. If the deposition targets an organization rather than a person, the notice can describe the topics generally, and the organization then designates the specific people who will speak for it on each topic.
A deposition officer runs the proceeding: stating their name and address, the date, time, and place, who the deponent is, administering the oath, and identifying everyone present. Attendance by people beyond the reporter, the witness, and the attorneys or parties requires forty-eight hours’ notice to everyone else. Objections get stated on the record, but the testimony still gets taken — the witness answers subject to the objection rather than the deposition grinding to a halt. Lawyers may only instruct a witness not to answer to protect a privilege, enforce a court-ordered limit, or set up a motion to end or limit the examination.
If a deposition turns abusive — conducted in bad faith or meant to annoy, embarrass, or oppress someone — the deponent or a party can ask the court to stop it immediately or narrow its scope, and the deposition is suspended while that request is pending. The court can also cap how long a deposition runs, though it must allow more time if the deponent or another party is dragging things out, and it can penalize whoever caused the delay.
After the testimony is taken, a deponent who asked in advance gets thirty days to review the transcript and note any changes. The deposition officer certifies the transcript, and rather than filing the original with the court, the attorney who ordered it seals it and keeps it, producing it later if the court or another party needs it. If a party notices a deposition and then does not show up, or fails to subpoena a witness who as a result does not appear, the court can order that party to cover the other side’s reasonable expenses, including attorney’s fees.