Rule 30[b][6] deposition mystery revealed: what records professionals need to know: the legal department called. Your organization is being sued, and the other party wants to depose a records manager and that's you. Now what? Don't panic. Be prepared.

• Author: Jackson, Stacy
• Position: Legislation

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Litigation is no longer the unique domain of the legal department. When organizations were paper-based, it was relatively simple to organize files, desk drawers, and boxes of information in ware. houses. It was also easier to Dull paper documents relevant to the litigation at hand and give them to the legal staff.

Now, organizations have complicated IT and document management systems. Lawyers on both sides of the litigation have to learn about these complicated systems, in addition to reviewing the data that pertains to the substance of the case. E-discovery is now a routine part of civil litigation, and more attorneys are using the U.S. Federal Rules of Civil Procedure (FRCP) Rule 30(b)(6) deposition as a way to acquire information. As such, litigation is spilling over into other departments, including IT and records management.

E-discovery is forcing records professionals to be actively involved in corporate litigation. They are increasingly being called to testify as 30(b)(6) witnesses, which are witnesses who testify about the corporate operations and not necessarily the facts of the case. While this process may sound scary, 30(b)(6) depositions do not have to be.

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What Is a 30[b](6] Deposition?

Almost all civil litigation has a discovery phase--or the time before the trial commences when the parties exchange information relevant to the case. There are many ways to do this, but the primary discovery devices are:

* Interrogatories (written questions)

* Request for admissions (a written factual statement)

* Request for productions (written request to provide documents and data)

* Depositions (out-of-court recorded testimony)

At times, the lawyers in a case need background information on an organization's method of doing business, as it pertains to the case, before they can zero in on the exact subject of the litigation. When a party to a lawsuit is a person, that person can be deposed. But, who speaks for an organization? That's where the 30(b)(6) deposition comes into play. Under the FRCP (the rulebook that governs civil actions in the U.S. District Court), a representative can be designated to speak on behalf of the organization about particular topics.

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For example, an individual from IT may be called upon to answer questions regarding data storage. A records professional may be called upon to discuss how data is created, stored, and deleted.

In the case of Re: Carbon Dioxide Industry Antitrust Litigation, State of Florida, Ex Rel., et al., the plaintiffs served 300(b)(6) deposition notices on defendants and asked them to identify data maintained on the organization's computers, as well as the hardware and software necessary to access the information. The court ordered the 30(b)(6) depositions to take place because they were necessary to proceed with the merits of discovery.

What Is Expected of the Deponent?

As seen in the graphic above, the opposing party in the litigation sends a subpoena, which must describe with "reasonable particularity" the matters the attorneys wish to learn more about. When the attorneys need to know about records management, a records professional's...