Episode 163: Lessons from the Front Lines - Pronoun Perils: In 30(b)(6) Depos, “I” is the Entity, Not the Deponent

When a 30(b)(6) representative is deposed, the testimony is that of the organization, not of the individual answering the questions. However, in the heat of battle, it can be challenging to remember this distinction. Questions in 30(b)(6) depos that use words like "you" - and answers that use words like "I" or "me" - can blur the roles and lead an examiner to see the testimony as also being that of the witness individually. But it isn't. Psychologists refer to this confusion as an "attribution error," meaning that we may attribute the testimony to the wrong source.

This confusion can be fatal to a claim if the representative is also a key witness individually and wasn't deposed separately. Today, Jim discusses a brand new court ruling where a federal judge dismissed a claim against an individual defendant (and key witness) who was only deposed as a 30(b)(6) deponent. The question there was, when a 30(b)(6) witness says “I,” who’s really speaking—the individual or the entity? Learn how that 30(b)(6) deposition in Ademi wasn't enough to survive summary judgment, and what every litigator must do to avoid the same trap. Essential listening for anyone taking or defending corporate rep depositions.

SHOW NOTES

Ademi, et al. v. Central Park Boathouse, LLC, and Dean Poll, individually, No. 22-cv-8535 (S.D.N.Y. Sept. 23, 2025) (summary judgment granted in favor of individual defendant where plaintiff’s counsel only deposed defendant in a 30(b)(6) capacity and, thus, had no testimony from the witness himself)

Fed. R. Civ. P. 30(b)(6) (designated representative rule)

King v. Pratt and Whitney, 161 F. R. D. 275 (S. D. Fla. Apr. 27, 1995) (rule governing representative depositions doesn’t limit scope of questions that can be asked, beyond topic list); Joseph v. Chronister, et al, 2019 WL 8014505, Case No. 8:16-cv-274-T-35CPT (M. D. Florida January 29, 2019) (scope of designated-representative deposition is not strictly confined to topics set forth in notice; further noting the twin benefit of this type of deposition, being that it limits the number of people within a corporation to be deposed, and prevents bandying); See Marksberry v. FCA US LLC, 2021 WL 2142655, No. 19-2724 (D. Kan. May 26, 2021) (lawyers may object to topics as “outside the scope” of that listed on the 30(b)(6) notice, and such objections have been held to be permissible, but the witness “must nevertheless answer the question because Fed. R. Civ. P. 26(b) - not the deposition notice defines the scope of discovery”).