A physician defendant appears for deposition with her lawyer. To their surprise, plaintiff’s counsel brought along a “nurse advisor” to the deposition. This advisor was not a party, a party’s lawyer (or the lawyer’s employee) or an expert witness. Does that nurse advisor have a right to be present at the deposition? In the past, this was permissible, but as of April 1, 2017, the answer is “No!”
Pursuant to Rule 2-413.1, absent a court order or agreement, the only people allowed to attend a deposition are:
- The court reporter;
- An individual acting under the direction of the court reporter;
- A party (if that party is an individual);
- If the party is not an individual, one representative other than the party’s attorney;
- The parties’ attorneys;
- A non-attorney member of the attorney’s staff needed to assist in the representation;
- The witness;
- An attorney for the witness; and
- An expert witness expected to testify on the subject matter of the deposition.
So what does this mean? The “nurse advisor” was not a party, a party’s attorney (or the lawyer’s employee) or expert witness in the case. Moreover, there was no court order or agreement among the parties. Even though the nurse advisor once had a right to attend the deposition, that door is now CLOSED.
Bottom Line: Know who can – and cannot – attend a deposition before you go. You may be able to prevent a party’s non-expert “advisor” or any other individual not listed above, from attending and interfering with the process.
If we can help with this, or anything else, please contact us.