Evidence Commons^™

Originally seen as a sharp and efficient instrument for the discovery of truth and the sifting of facts, the effectiveness of the oral deposition authorized by Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 30 and governed by sundry other provisions, observers would later conclude, had been dulled by the Rules’ middle-age. Repeated objections, often lengthy and suggestive, had apparently rendered depositions increasingly long and unproductive, and exchanges akin to the ones excerpted throughout this piece are no longer unusual. True, many depositions smoothly transpired. Still, pesky objections of dubious need and value, their exclamation inconsistent with the collegiality implicitly favored by the …