Overview
In an opinion today, Magistrate Judge Wang denied a motion for sanctions premised on (among other things) the “sheer volume” of objections during two depositions, including, in one instance, a deposition with an objection on approximately 80% of the transcript pages.
Judge Wang concluded that the number of objections alone was not enough, given that the objections were largely appropriate:
Because counsel defending a deposition have an obligation to make timely and contemporaneous objections under Rule 32, awarding sanctions based only on the number of objections would have the perverse effect of rewarding – or at least condoning – confusing and objectionable questions. . . .
The Court has reviewed the transcripts of [the] depositions and finds that the objections, while numerous, were not inappropriate or unwarranted. The vast majority of the objections were not speaking objections and did not involve colloquy; moreover, defense counsel only instructed [a witness] not to answer one time.
