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Rule 211 – Effect of Errors and Irregularities in Depositions; Objections

May 11, 2021 | Civil Procedure, Illinois

(a)As to Notice. All errors and irregularities in the notice for taking a deposition are waived unless written objection is promptly served upon the party giving the notice.
(b)As to Disqualification of Officer or Person. Objection to taking a deposition because of disqualification of the officer or person before whom it is to be taken is waived unless made before the taking of the deposition begins or as soon thereafter as the disqualification becomes known or could have been discovered with reasonable diligence.
(c)As to Competency of Deponent; Admissibility of Testimony; Questions and Answers; Misconduct; Irregularities.

(1) Grounds of objection to the competency of the deponent or admissibility of testimony which might have been corrected if presented during the taking of the deposition are waived by failure to make them at that time; otherwise objections to the competency of the deponent or admissibility of testimony may be made when the testimony is offered in evidence.
(2) Objections to the form of a question or answer, errors and irregularities occurring at the oral examination in the manner or taking of the deposition, in the oath or affirmation, or in the conduct of any person, and errors and irregularities of any kind which might be corrected if promptly presented, are waived unless seasonable objection thereto is made at the taking of the deposition.
(3) Objections to the form of written questions are waived unless served in writing upon the party propounding them within the time allowed for serving succeeding questions and, in the case of the last questions authorized, within 7 days after service thereof.
(4) A motion to suppress is unnecessary to preserve an objection seasonably made. Any party may, but need not, on notice and motion obtain a ruling by the court on the objections in advance of the trial.
(d)As to Completion and Return of Deposition. Errors and irregularities in the manner in which the testimony is transcribed or the deposition is prepared, signed, certified, sealed, indorsed, transmitted, filed, or otherwise dealt with by the officer are waived unless a motion to suppress the deposition or some part thereof is made with reasonable promptness after the defect is, or with due diligence might have been, ascertained.

Ill. Sup. Ct. R. 211

Committee Comments

This rule is derived from former Rule 19-9. The language is unchanged except that the period for filing objections to the form of written questions has been extended to seven days in subparagraph (c)(3) in keeping with the committee’s policy of measuring time periods in multiples of seven days.