Who explains the rules of the deposition?

• A. The judge
• B. The court reporter
• C. The witness
• D. The lawyer who called it

Answer: (D)

In a deposition, the procedure is explained by the attorney who called the deposition. The examining lawyer goes through how it will proceed, what the deponent should expect, how objections will be handled, and how answers should be given under oath. The judge typically isn’t on hand to explain the rules in depositions, and the court reporter’s job is to administer the oath and produce a verbatim record rather than explain the procedure. The witness’s role is to answer questions truthfully, not to set or explain the rules. So the responsibility for explaining the rules lies with the initiating attorney.