Episode 123 - Lessons from the Front Lines: Free Transcripts Courtesy of Your Opponent? Maybe. Here's How.
In this episode, Jim Garrity steps up to the plate to take a swing at a controversial tactic: using a request for production to demand an opponent turn over, free, copies of transcripts of depositions taken in the pending case. Is it forbidden by Fed. R. Civ. P. 34 and its state analogues? Is it fair to court reporters and opposing counsels? Does fairness have a role if it's permitted by rule? Get the lowdown, practice tips, and supporting authorities in the Show Notes below. Thanks for listening!
SHOW NOTES
Collazo v. Safelite Fulfillment, Inc., etc., Case No. 8:22-cv-01137-SDM-MRM (M.D. Fla. filed May 16, 2022); Time-Sensitive Motion to Compel at Doc. 35; Text Order at Docket Entry 37 (through Docket Report menu item)
Bahr v. NCL (Bahamas) Ltd., No. 19-CV-22973, 2022 WL 293255, at *3 (S.D. Fla. Feb. 1, 2022) (“The duty to supplement continues after the close of discovery. See In re BankAtlantic BanCorp, Inc., No. 07-61542-CIV, 2010 WL 3294342, at *5 (S.D. Fla. Aug. 20, 2010) (citing Rodriguez v. IBP, Inc., 243 F.3d 1221, 1230 (10th Cir. 2001) (the duty to supplement extends beyond the close of discovery, until the filing of a notice of appeal); Klonski v. Mahlab, 156 F.3d 255, 267-68 (1st Cir. 1998) (the duty to supplement extends beyond the close of discovery and into trial); Hunyh v. J.P. Morgan Chase & Co., No. CIV 06–0001–PHX–RCB, 2008 WL 2789532 at *24-25 (D. Ariz. Jul. 17, 2008) (Rule 26 requires supplementation after discovery closes), Locascio v. Jacobs, No. 8:05-CV-416-T-24EAJ, 2006 WL 1540290 at *1 (M.D. Fla. May 30, 2006) (the duty to supplement under Rule 26(e) supersedes the parties’ agreement to stop supplementing thirty (30) days prior to trial, and the duty to supplement discovery responses continues, at least, until trial)).
Express Freight Sys. Inc. v. YMB Enterprises Inc., No. 20 CV 186 (ARR)(LB), 2022 WL 2467176, at *6 (E.D.N.Y. Mar. 29, 2022), adopted, 623 F. Supp. 3d 39 (E.D.N.Y. 2022) (interpreting FRCP 30(f)(3) as dispositive of the issue; “On its face, nothing in the Rule undermines Rule 30(f)(3) which, as stated earlier, requires that parties pay for their own copies of transcripts. See Fed. R. Civ. P. 30(f)(3) (“When paid reasonable charges, the officer must furnish a copy of the transcript or recording to any party of the deponent.”); see also Steven S. Gensler & Lumen N. Mulligan, Practice Commentary Rule 26 (Feb. 2022).)
Express Freight Sys. Inc. v. YMB Enterprises Inc., No. 20 CV 186 (ARR)(LB), 2022 WL 2467176, at *6 (E.D.N.Y. Mar. 29, 2022), adopted, 623 F. Supp. 3d 39 (E.D.N.Y. 2022) (“Defendant's argument that plaintiff is required to provide a copy of the Mendlovic deposition is peculiar. If defendant is correct, and an opposing party can be required under the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure to provide free deposition transcripts during the discovery phase, why would a party ever bother purchasing its own copy of a transcript? “)
Fed. R. Civ. P. 32(c) Form of Presentation (“Unless the court orders otherwise, a party must provide a transcript of any deposition testimony the party offers, but may provide the court with the testimony in nontranscript form as well. On any party's request, deposition testimony offered in a jury trial for any purpose other than impeachment must be presented in nontranscript form, if available, unless the court for good cause orders otherwise”)
Music With Mar, LLC v. Mr. Froggy’s Friends, Inc., 2020 WL 10403366, at *1 (M.D. Fla. 2020) (order in jurisdiction where parties must file entire transcripts, saying “a party relying on a deposition transcript to support a motion for summary judgment must file the transcript in its entirety (condensed version is fine) with exhibits”)
In re BankAtlantic BanCorp, Inc., No. 07-61542-CIV, 2010 WL 3294342, at *6 (S.D. Fla. Aug. 20, 2010) (rejecting defense argument that it had no obligation to supplement discovery responses as to documents it did not have when discovery closed; “It is unquestioned that Plaintiffs requested the OTC documents and the SEC transcripts well before the close of discovery. It is also unquestioned that Defendants provided to Plaintiffs all of these documents and transcripts which were in Defendants' possession at the close of discovery. At the end of discovery, Defendants' production of the OTC documents and SEC transcripts was incomplete. Thus, as the remaining OTC documents and SEC transcripts became available for production, Defendants had a duty to produce them”)
Fed. R. Civ. P. 30(f)(3) (“…When paid reasonable charges, the officer must furnish a copy of the transcript or recording to any party or the deponent”)
Schroer v. United States, 250 F.R.D. 531, 535 (D. Colo. 2008) (held, in response to pro se plaintiff’s demand for transcripts, that “Contrary to the assertions of the plaintiff in support of his Motion, it is unusual for a party to attempt to compel the production of deposition transcripts from another party by means of a request for production of documents under Rule 34. I find that Rule 34, concerning the production of documents and tangible things, is not an appropriate mechanism to obtain a copy of the transcript of a deposition taken in the same action)
Vickers v. Jp Morgan Chase N.A., No. SA-12-CA-31-XR, 2013 WL 12134153, at *12 (W.D. Tex. Feb. 22, 2013) (citing the Schroer case, but without independent analysis, stating that “If plaintiff is seeking transcripts of depositions taken in this case, plaintiff has not demonstrated she may obtain them through a discovery request.”)
Friend v. Taylor L. PLLC, No. 4:17-CV-29-TLS-JPK, 2022 WL 2915710, at *1 (N.D. Ind. July 25, 2022) (The Court adopts that reasoning here and denies the Plaintiff's request. Rule 30 governs depositions and provides the means for a party to obtain a deposition transcript—i.e., the court reporter will provide a copy of a transcript once paid a reasonable charge. See Fed. R. Civ. P. 30(f)(3). While Rule 26(b)(3)(C) requires parties to hand over previous statements in certain instances, applying it in the way requested by the Plaintiff would cut court reporters out of the payments they have earned and are entitled to under Rule 30(f)(3). This understanding is also consistent with “[t]he general rule ... that a party must obtain copies of deposition transcripts directly from the court reporter upon the payment of a reasonable charge, and not from opposing counsel or the court.” Schroer v. United States, 250 F.R.D. 531, 537 (D. Colo. 2008); see Watson v. Ohio Ambulance Solutions, LLC, No. 1:20-cv-802, 2022 WL 2133739, at *3 (S.D. Ohio June 14, 2022) (“Courts have consistently held that a party is not required to provide an opposing party with a free copy of a deposition transcript.”). Thus, the Plaintiff can obtain a copy of the transcript from the court reporter”)
Schroer v. United States, 250 F.R.D. 531, 537 (D. Colo. 2008) (“The extenuating circumstances which might justify relief from the general rule that a party must obtain deposition transcripts from the court reporter upon the payment of a reasonable charge might include the inability of the party to pay the amount charged, even if reasonable; an unreasonable charge by the reporter; abusive conduct on the part of the opposing party in taking an unreasonably large number of depositions or unreasonably expanding the length of those depositions by prolonged examination; and the like. See generally Caldwell v. Wheeler, 89 F.R.D. at 147–48”)
