Legal Question in Civil Litigation in California

Re: Deposition Subpoenas

A Subpoena Duces Tecum is issued to compel the attendance of a witness who is not a party to the lawsuit and is usually used to obtained documents from a third party. If you are taking the deposition of a party to the lawsuit, then sending the notice of deposition and requesst for documents to the party (or their attonrey if they have one) is sufficient.

Re: Deposition Subpoenas

You should have your case reviewed by an attorney. Don't try to do it yourself. Contact me directly.

Re: Deposition Subpoenas

Mr. Starrett covered the first part of your question concerning the need for a subpoena for nonparty witnesses or documents.

With respect to the expert witness of the opposing party, you need to read Sections 2034.410 through 2034.470 of the Code of Civil Procedure, which specifically apply to depositions of expert witnesses. Sec. 2034.420 indicates that you may not have to go out of state to take the expert's deposition, unless the opposing party has obtained a protective order on a showing of exceptional hardship. The general rule is that depo of an expert witness must take place within 75 miles of the courthouse where the action is pending.

And you do not have to subpoena the opposing party's expert, although you must pay his expert fees in advance for attending the depo., and serve an appropriate deposition notice. See Sections 2034.430, 2034.440, 2034.450, and 2034.460.

However, if you want to compel the expert to produce any documents at the deposition, you do have to serve him with a subpoena duces tecum. (You should be provided with his expert report in discovery, but there may be additional documents you will want to examine, including his correspondence with opposing counsel and any materials he has relied on in forming his opinions.)

Candidly, if your case is complex enough to involve expert testimony, you may be best advised to obtain an attorney to handle the litigation. Unless you yourself are an expert in the field (and perhaps even if you are), taking on a professional expert witness in a deposition is not likely to assist your case.