YOUR COMPANY NEEDS TO TESTIFY AT DEPOSITION/TRIAL:
NOW WHAT?
One of the certainties of business is that at some point, someone, is going to bring a legal action against your company. The federal courts and virtually all state courts allow for the deposition of corporate representatives. Federal Rule of Civil Procedure that governs this process is 30(b) 6. As such, corporate reps are often referred to as 30 (b) 6 witnesses. You may have already served in this capacity, but the lessons addressed below have been a pitfall for one or more of RRS’ clients’ testimony, and are not merely theoretical examples of problems that can arise.
Who Should Be The Corporate Representative?
In most cases, the company can choose its corporate representative. Although the plaintiff may require that a particular individual testify, they usually instead serve a corporate subpoena, which permits the company to select the person who will testify.
The deposition request generally includes a list of subject matters to be covered. This allows the company to identify the proper persons to testify. The representative should either have first-hand knowledge for each topic, or must learn about them.
The company is permitted to use separate representatives for each topic. If there is a topic regarding sales, the person to testify on this issue may be the sales manager. If another topic is, for example, quality control, the company might designate the production manager or an engineer.
At trial, you may decide to use one well-spoken individual to testify on all matters. But for a deposition, which will become a cold, black-and-white transcript, you may want to have several people testify in their areas of specialty. Before trial, the company designated corporate representative will have an opportunity to review the others depositions to familiarize him or her with all prior testimony in the case.
