Where Is A Corporate Representative Deposed?

Although most attorneys know to schedule a FRCP 30(b)(6) witness at or near the corporation's headquarters, sometimes adversaries try to burden a corporate defendant be setting the deposition at the trial venue. This is almost uniformly improper unless the corporation has filed a counter-claim. Although it is widely understood that corporate depositions need to take place at or near the corporate headquarters, here is the law:

[1] Grey v. Continental Marketing Associates, Inc., 315 F. Supp. 826, 832 (N.D. Ga. 1970).; but see; Sugarhill Records Ltd. v. Motown Record Corp., 105 F.R.D. 166, 171, 1 Fed. R. Serv. 3d 717 (S.D. N.Y. 1985) (ordering deposition of large corporate defendant in forum of lawsuit rather than in corporation’s principal place of business); Resolution Trust Corp. v. Worldwide Ins. Management Corp., 147 F.R.D. 125, 127 (N.D. Tex. 1992), aff’d, 992 F.2d 325 (5th Cir. 1993) (recognizing exceptions to rule that corporation should be deposed at its principal place of business).

The reasons why corporate depositions need to take place at or near the company's headquarters include:

Minimizing discovery burdens on corporate defendants;
Minimizing travel expenses for the witness or witnesses;

Some authorities suggest that it is useful to hold the deposition at the corporate headquarters so that the witness can retrieve documents from the corporation during the depositoin. This is a bad idea. The defending attorney should never permit the witness to offer to retrieve documents during the deposition. The documents need to be reviewed for responsiveness and privilege and this is almost impossible during the pendency of the deposition.