Bell Nunnally Senior Associate Nathan Cox and Associate Kate Rosenow authored the Texas Lawyer article “Protecting Deponents in Texas and Federal Courts: Preservation and Pitfalls.” The piece explores how attorneys can better safeguard witnesses during depositions – a forum that increasingly serves as the primary battleground in litigation.

Cox and Rosenow compare the Texas and Federal Rules of Civil Procedure and highlight how missteps in federal court can lead to waiver of key objections. They write, “Knowing the proper procedures for when and how to protect your deponent from harassing or abusive conduct is more important than ever.” The article offers practical guidance for better defending against attorneys covering permissible objections, how and when to instruct a deponent not to answer and steps to preserve issues for court review.

Importantly, they note, “(U)nlike the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, the Texas Rules of Civil Procedure allow an instruction not to answer a question in far more instances.” The piece also includes real-world examples and a procedural “cheat sheet” comparing conduct-response frameworks under both state and federal rules.

To read the full article, please click here.