How to Get a Court Deposition: Notices, Subpoenas, and Fees

To get a court deposition in a federal civil case, you serve one of two documents: a Notice of Deposition on someone already a party to the lawsuit, or a Rule 45 subpoena on an outside witness. You then tender the witness fees required by law, arrange for a court reporter to administer the oath and record the testimony, and file proof that service happened. The steps look simple written out, but each one has requirements that will invalidate the deposition or leave the witness free to ignore you if you skip them.

Party or Non-Party: Pick the Right Document

Everything downstream depends on whether the person you want to question is already in the case.

For a plaintiff, defendant, or someone acting on behalf of a party, you serve a Notice of Deposition under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 30. The notice goes to every other party in the case and states the time, place, and — if known — the deponent’s name and address.¹

For anyone else — a treating physician, an eyewitness, a records custodian at an outside company — a notice is meaningless. You need a subpoena issued under Rule 45. The subpoena commands the witness to appear at a specific time and place and can also require them to bring documents.² An attorney admitted in the issuing court can sign and issue the subpoena directly; a judge’s signature isn’t required. Self-represented litigants can request blank subpoena forms from the court clerk’s office.

What the Notice or Subpoena Must Say

Missing a required field gives the deponent grounds to challenge the whole proceeding. Both documents need:

The court’s name, the case title, and the civil action number.
The deponent’s name and address, if known, or a description sufficient to identify them.¹
A specific date, time, and place. For a non-party, the location must be within 100 miles of where the witness lives, works, or regularly conducts business in person.²
The recording method — stenographic transcript, audio, video, or a combination. If you plan to record by any method, the notice has to say so.¹
A clear description of any documents you want the deponent to bring.

Rule 30 requires “reasonable written notice” but doesn’t set a number of days. Two weeks is a common practical minimum, and local court rules sometimes impose their own floor.

Serving the Document and Tendering Fees

How Service Works

A subpoena on a non-party has to be personally delivered by someone at least 18 years old who isn’t a party to the case.² Most people hire a professional process server or use the sheriff’s office. Mailing the subpoena is not enough.

For parties, service is easier. If the party’s attorney is on the court’s electronic filing system, filing through that system serves them. A party can also consent in writing to service by other electronic means such as email.³ Electronic service is complete on transmission, but it fails if you find out the message didn’t reach the recipient.

Witness Fees and Mileage

This is the step people forget, and forgetting it is fatal. When you serve a subpoena on a non-party, you have to hand over the witness fees at the same time. Federal law sets the attendance fee at $40 per day.⁴ A witness who drives is also entitled to mileage reimbursement at the GSA rate, which is 72.5 cents per mile for 2026.⁵

Without the fee tender, the subpoena is unenforceable. The witness can ignore it, and the court will not hold them in contempt.² Federal government parties are exempt from the tender requirement.

Proof of Service

After delivery, file a statement with the court showing the date, method of service, and the name of the person served — usually an affidavit signed by the process server.² You need this on file before the court will consider a motion to compel or a contempt finding.

Get a Court Reporter

Every deposition requires an officer authorized to administer oaths, either under federal law or the law of the place where the deposition happens.⁶ In practice that means a certified court reporter. The reporter swears in the witness, produces a verbatim transcript, and certifies it for use in court. Without a qualified officer, the testimony isn’t part of the official record.

Video is common alongside the stenographic transcript because it captures things the page doesn’t. Any other party can arrange an additional recording method at their own expense as long as they give prior notice. Remote depositions by videoconference are handled by agreement between the parties; if the parties don’t agree, you may need a court order.

Deposing an Organization

When you want testimony from a corporation, agency, or other organization rather than a specific person, Rule 30(b)(6) applies. Instead of naming a witness, you describe the topics for examination, and the organization designates one or more people to testify on those topics.¹

The topics must be described with “reasonable particularity” so the organization can prepare the right person. If the topics are vague, the designee shows up unable to answer, and you’ve wasted the deposition. If you’re also requesting documents under Rule 34, the organization is entitled to at least 30 days’ notice.

Deposing an Expert Witness

An expert retained to testify in the case can’t be deposed until they’ve produced a written report. Rule 26(a)(2)(B) requires the report to include the expert’s opinions and the basis for them, the data considered, the expert’s qualifications, a list of cases where they’ve testified as an expert over the past four years, and their compensation for the case.⁷ Scheduling before the report is ready gets the deposition blocked or the testimony excluded.

Duration and Number Limits

A single deposition can’t run longer than one day of seven hours unless the parties agree otherwise or the court orders more time.¹ Breaks don’t count against the seven hours; only questioning time does. Courts will grant more time if someone interferes with or delays the examination.

Each side is limited to 10 depositions total, combining oral depositions under Rule 30 and written depositions under Rule 31. Going past 10 requires a stipulation or leave of court. In multi-party litigation the limit applies separately to each “side,” so total depositions in a case can be well above 10.

If the Witness Doesn’t Show Up

Non-Party Witnesses

A non-party served with a proper subpoena (including the fee tender) who ignores it faces contempt of court. The court where compliance was required can hold the person in contempt for failing without adequate excuse to obey the subpoena.² Penalties can include daily fines until compliance, or confinement.

Parties

A party who skips their own deposition faces sanctions under Rule 37(d) that hit the case itself. The court can treat disputed facts as established against the absent party, prohibit them from presenting certain evidence or defenses, strike their pleadings, or enter default judgment. The court will also typically order the absent party and their attorney to pay the opposing side’s reasonable expenses and attorney fees, unless the absence was substantially justified.

One trap: you cannot skip your deposition on the theory that the questions will be improper. If you think the deposition itself shouldn’t go forward, you have to file a motion for a protective order before the scheduled date. Not showing up and arguing the point afterward is not a defense.

Depositions Before a Lawsuit Is Filed

In narrow circumstances you can depose a witness before filing a case. Rule 27 allows a person who expects to be a party in a future lawsuit to petition the court to preserve testimony.⁸ The petition must explain why you can’t bring the suit yet, identify the expected adverse parties, and describe the testimony and why it might be lost without immediate action. Each expected adverse party must be served at least 21 days before the hearing on the petition. This is for situations like an elderly or seriously ill key witness, not a shortcut around normal discovery.

What It Costs

The witness fee and mileage are the smallest line item. The real expenses are elsewhere, and they vary by region:

Court reporter appearance fee: typically a flat charge of $150 to $400 just to show up.
Transcript costs: commonly $3 to $7 per page. A full day of testimony can produce 200 to 300 pages, so a single transcript can run past $1,000.
Videographer: a separate charge for time and equipment if you’re recording on video.
Process server: $20 to $100, depending on location and how hard the witness is to find.

Urban markets sit at the top of each range. Across multiple depositions the total adds up quickly, which is part of why the default 10-deposition cap exists.

1
Legal Information Institute. Federal Rules of Civil Procedure Rule 30 – Depositions by Oral Examination
2
Cornell Law School. Federal Rules of Civil Procedure Rule 45 – Subpoena
3
Legal Information Institute. Federal Rules of Civil Procedure Rule 5 – Serving and Filing Pleadings and Other Papers
4
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 28 USC 1821 – Per Diem and Mileage Generally
5
General Services Administration. Privately Owned Vehicle Mileage Reimbursement Rates
6
Cornell Law School. Federal Rules of Civil Procedure Rule 28
7
Legal Information Institute. Federal Rules of Civil Procedure Rule 26 – Duty to Disclose; General Provisions Governing Discovery
8
Legal Information Institute. Federal Rules of Civil Procedure Rule 27 – Depositions to Perpetuate Testimony