SECTIONS 2025.510-2025.570 - California Statutes

CODE OF CIVIL PROCEDURE

SECTION 2025.510-2025.570

2025.510. (a) Unless the parties agree otherwise, the testimony at
any deposition recorded by stenographic means shall be transcribed.
(b) The party noticing the deposition shall bear the cost of that
transcription, unless the court, on motion and for good cause shown,
orders that the cost be borne or shared by another party.
(c) Notwithstanding subdivision (b) of Section 2025.320, any other
party or the deponent, at the expense of that party or deponent, may
obtain a copy of the transcript.
(d) If the deposition officer receives a request from a party for
an original or a copy of the deposition transcript, or any portion
thereof, and the full or partial transcript will be available to that
party prior to the time the original or copy would be available to
any other party, the deposition officer shall immediately notify all
other parties attending the deposition of the request, and shall,
upon request by any party other than the party making the original
request, make that copy of the full or partial deposition transcript
available to all parties at the same time.
(e) Stenographic notes of depositions shall be retained by the
reporter for a period of not less than eight years from the date of
the deposition, where no transcript is produced, and not less than
one year from the date on which the transcript is produced. Those
notes may be either on paper or electronic media, as long as it
allows for satisfactory production of a transcript at any time during
the periods specified.
(f) At the request of any other party to the action, including a
party who did not attend the taking of the deposition testimony, any
party who records or causes the recording of that testimony by means
of audio or video technology shall promptly do both of the following:
(1) Permit that other party to hear the audio recording or to view
the video recording.
(2) Furnish a copy of the audio or video recording to that other
party on receipt of payment of the reasonable cost of making that
copy of the recording.
(g) If the testimony at the deposition is recorded both
stenographically, and by audio or video technology, the stenographic
transcript is the official record of that testimony for the purpose
of the trial and any subsequent hearing or appeal.
(h) (1) The requesting attorney or party appearing in propria
persona shall timely pay the deposition officer or the entity
providing the services of the deposition officer for the
transcription or copy of the transcription described in subdivision
(b) or (c), and any other deposition products or services that are
requested either orally or in writing.
(2) This subdivision shall apply unless responsibility for the
payment is otherwise provided by law or unless the deposition officer
or entity is notified in writing at the time the services or
products are requested that the party or another identified person
will be responsible for payment.
(3) This subdivision does not prohibit or supersede an agreement
between an attorney and a party allocating responsibility for the
payment of deposition costs to the party.
(i) For purposes of this section, "deposition product or service"
means any product or service provided in connection with a deposition
that qualifies as shorthand reporting, as described in Section 8017
of the Business and Professions Code, and any product or service
derived from that shorthand reporting.

2025.520. (a) If the deposition testimony is stenographically
recorded, the deposition officer shall send written notice to the
deponent and to all parties attending the deposition when the
original transcript of the testimony for each session of the
deposition is available for reading, correcting, and signing, unless
the deponent and the attending parties agree on the record that the
reading, correcting, and signing of the transcript of the testimony
will be waived or that the reading, correcting, and signing of a
transcript of the testimony will take place after the entire
deposition has been concluded or at some other specific time.
(b) For 30 days following each notice under subdivision (a),
unless the attending parties and the deponent agree on the record or
otherwise in writing to a longer or shorter time period, the deponent
may change the form or the substance of the answer to a question,
and may either approve the transcript of the deposition by signing
it, or refuse to approve the transcript by not signing it.
(c) Alternatively, within this same period, the deponent may
change the form or the substance of the answer to any question and
may approve or refuse to approve the transcript by means of a letter
to the deposition officer signed by the deponent which is mailed by
certified or registered mail with return receipt requested. A copy of
that letter shall be sent by first-class mail to all parties
attending the deposition.
(d) For good cause shown, the court may shorten the 30-day period
for making changes, approving, or refusing to approve the transcript.
(e) The deposition officer shall indicate on the original of the
transcript, if the deponent has not already done so at the office of
the deposition officer, any action taken by the deponent and indicate
on the original of the transcript, the deponent's approval of, or
failure or refusal to approve, the transcript. The deposition officer
shall also notify in writing the parties attending the deposition of
any changes which the deponent timely made in person.
(f) If the deponent fails or refuses to approve the transcript
within the allotted period, the deposition shall be given the same
effect as though it had been approved, subject to any changes timely
made by the deponent.
(g) Notwithstanding subdivision (f), on a seasonable motion to
suppress the deposition, accompanied by a meet and confer declaration
under Section 2016.040, the court may determine that the reasons
given for the failure or refusal to approve the transcript require
rejection of the deposition in whole or in part.
(h) The court shall impose a monetary sanction under Chapter 7
(commencing with Section 2023.010) against any party, person, or
attorney who unsuccessfully makes or opposes a motion to suppress a
deposition under this section, unless the court finds that the one
subject to the sanction acted with substantial justification or that
other circumstances make the imposition of the sanction unjust.

2025.530. (a) If there is no stenographic transcription of the
deposition, the deposition officer shall send written notice to the
deponent and to all parties attending the deposition that the audio
or video recording made by, or at the direction of, any party, is
available for review, unless the deponent and all these parties agree
on the record to waive the hearing or viewing of the audio or video
recording of the testimony.
(b) For 30 days following a notice under subdivision (a), the
deponent, either in person or by signed letter to the deposition
officer, may change the substance of the answer to any question.
(c) The deposition officer shall set forth in a writing to
accompany the recording any changes made by the deponent, as well as
either the deponent's signature identifying the deposition as the
deponent's own, or a statement of the deponent's failure to supply
the signature, or to contact the officer within the period prescribed
by subdivision (b).
(d) When a deponent fails to contact the officer within the period
prescribed by subdivision (b), or expressly refuses by a signature
to identify the deposition as the deponent's own, the deposition
shall be given the same effect as though signed.
(e) Notwithstanding subdivision (d), on a reasonable motion to
suppress the deposition, accompanied by a meet and confer declaration
under Section 2016.040, the court may determine that the reasons
given for the refusal to sign require rejection of the deposition in
whole or in part.
(f) The court shall impose a monetary sanction under Chapter 7
(commencing with Section 2023.010) against any party, person, or
attorney who unsuccessfully makes or opposes a motion to suppress a
deposition under this section, unless it finds that the one subject
to the sanction acted with substantial justification or that other
circumstances make the imposition of the sanction unjust.

2025.540. (a) The deposition officer shall certify on the
transcript of the deposition, or in a writing accompanying an audio
or video record of deposition testimony, as described in Section
2025.530, that the deponent was duly sworn and that the transcript or
recording is a true record of the testimony given.
(b) When prepared as a rough draft transcript, the transcript of
the deposition may not be certified and may not be used, cited, or
transcribed as the certified transcript of the deposition
proceedings. The rough draft transcript may not be cited or used in
any way or at any time to rebut or contradict the certified
transcript of deposition proceedings as provided by the deposition
officer.

2025.550. (a) The certified transcript of a deposition shall not be
filed with the court. Instead, the deposition officer shall securely
seal that transcript in an envelope or package endorsed with the
title of the action and marked: "Deposition of (here insert name of
deponent)," and shall promptly transmit it to the attorney for the
party who noticed the deposition. This attorney shall store it under
conditions that will protect it against loss, destruction, or
tampering.
(b) The attorney to whom the transcript of a deposition is
transmitted shall retain custody of it until six months after final
disposition of the action. At that time, the transcript may be
destroyed, unless the court, on motion of any party and for good
cause shown, orders that the transcript be preserved for a longer
period.

2025.560. (a) An audio or video recording of deposition testimony
made by, or at the direction of, any party, including a certified
recording made by an operator qualified under subdivisions (b) to
(f), inclusive, of Section 2025.340, shall not be filed with the
court. Instead, the operator shall retain custody of that recording
and shall store it under conditions that will protect it against
loss, destruction, or tampering, and preserve as far as practicable
the quality of the recording and the integrity of the testimony and
images it contains.
(b) At the request of any party to the action, including a party
who did not attend the taking of the deposition testimony, or at the
request of the deponent, that operator shall promptly do both of the
following:
(1) Permit the one making the request to hear or to view the
recording on receipt of payment of a reasonable charge for providing
the facilities for hearing or viewing the recording.
(2) Furnish a copy of the audio or video recording to the one
making the request on receipt of payment of the reasonable cost of
making that copy of the recording.
(c) The attorney or operator who has custody of an audio or video
recording of deposition testimony made by, or at the direction of,
any party, shall retain custody of it until six months after final
disposition of the action. At that time, the audio or video recording
may be destroyed or erased, unless the court, on motion of any party
and for good cause shown, orders that the recording be preserved for
a longer period.

2025.570. (a) Notwithstanding subdivision (b) of Section 2025.320,
unless the court issues an order to the contrary, a copy of the
transcript of the deposition testimony made by, or at the direction
of, any party, or an audio or video recording of the deposition
testimony, if still in the possession of the deposition officer,
shall be made available by the deposition officer to any person
requesting a copy, on payment of a reasonable charge set by the
deposition officer.
(b) If a copy is requested from the deposition officer, the
deposition officer shall mail a notice to all parties attending the
deposition and to the deponent at the deponent's last known address
advising them of all of the following:
(1) The copy is being sought.
(2) The name of the person requesting the copy.
(3) The right to seek a protective order under Section 2025.420.
(c) If a protective order is not served on the deposition officer
within 30 days of the mailing of the notice, the deposition officer
shall make the copy available to the person requesting the copy.
(d) This section shall apply only to recorded testimony taken at
depositions occurring on or after January 1, 1998.