In litigation, it is imperative that the plaintiff capture the defendant(s) testimony by drafting and serving a valid deposition subpoena. However, it often becomes necessary to depose third-party individuals and/or entities that are not parties named in the litigation. However, unlike serving deposition subpoenas on parties to California litigation, California law limits the manner in which a party may serve a deposition subpoena on a third-party deponent. In In re Marriage of Moore, (2024) 102 Cal. App. 5th 1275, the Court of Appeal explicitly held that, “a deposition subpoena that has not been personally served in compliance with section 2020.220 imposes no obligations on a nonparty deponent.” Id. at p. 1288-89. The court further explained that “it is the personal service of the deposition subpoena that triggers a nonparty’s obligation to comply with the subpoena’s commands and subjects them to potential sanctions for disobedience, including punishment for contempt.” Id. The Moore opinion shockingly limits the authorized methods to effectuate service of a deposition subpoena on a third-party deponent to just one: personal service.
Click here to access In re Marriage of Moore, (2024) 102 Cal. App. 5th 1275.