RULES OF CIVIL PROCEDURE - Supreme 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 andproceed with the deposition and another party attends in person or by attorney pursuant to thenotice, the court may order the party giving the notice to pay to the other party the amount of thereasonable expenses incurred by the other party and the other 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 toserve a subpoena upon the witness and the witness because of the failure does not attend, andanother party attends in person or by attorney because the other party expects the deposition ofthat witness to be taken, the court may order the party giving the notice to pay to the other partythe amount of the reasonable expenses incurred by the other party and the other party’s attorneyin so attending, including reasonable attorney’s fees.[Effective: July 1, 1970; amended effective July 1, 1976; July 1, 1985; July 1, 1992; July1, 1994; July 1, 1997; July 1, 2006; July 1, 2012.]Staff Note (July 1, 2006 Amendment)The 2006 amendments contain two changes pertaining to the time period for reviewing andsigning depositions and the retention of deposition notes by the court reporter who transcribed thedeposition.Rule 30(E) Submission to witness; changes; signingCiv. R. 30(E) is amended to allow a witness thirty days to review and sign a deposition. Theformer rule allowed the witness only seven days to review and sign a deposition, and the Committeerecognized that a careful review of a deposition in that period of time was sometimes practically orlogistically difficult. When a deposition is taken close to trial, however, a quick turn-around may benecessary. Consequently, division (E) is amended to expand to thirty days the period in which a witnesshas to review and sign a deposition. Exceptions are provided for cases where the deposition is takenwithin thirty days of trial or hearing, in which case the seven-day rule still applies, or less than seven daysof trial or hearing, in which case the trial judge may establish a different deadline. This amendment bringsthe Ohio rule closer to the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, which give a witness thirty days to review andsign a deposition.Rule 30(F) Certification and filing by officer; exhibits; copies; notice of filingThe 2006 amendment added division (F)(4). The amendment responds to a concern expressedby individuals charged with taking or keeping notes of depositions in light of changes in technology and thefact that most present-day court reporting machines no longer use paper but record and retain depositiontestimony via electronic means. The amendment clarifies that “archival-quality copy” means any format ofa permanent or enduring nature that will allow an officer to transcribe the deposition. In light of thisdefinition, division (F)(1)(a) was revised to delete language that required the retention of paper notes ofdeposition testimony for a minimum of five years following the deposition.