Courts

Order To Force Opposing Counsel To Stop Taking Depositions In His Dining Room

This was... unorthodox.

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We firmly believe the legal profession should embrace the idea of working from home, but this is ridiculous. In the Eastern District of Pennsylvania, attorneys from Ballard Spahr representing Temple University Hospital filed a motion for a protective order to force plaintiffs’ counsel William T. Coleman to finally stop holding depositions in his dining room.

Wait, what?

Two depositions noticed by plaintiffs have already been taken in plaintiffs’ counsel’s dining room. According to defense counsel, the attendant conditions were totally unsatisfactory. The dining room was open to the kitchen and living room. During the two completed depositions it was possible to hear family members in the house when they were speaking on the telephone or to each other. When the sounds became particularly loud, plaintiffs’ counsel, at the request of defense counsel or the court reporter, had to intervene to restore quiet. The ringing of the telephone with incoming calls and announcements occurred. Family members passed through the dining room and at times interrupted plaintiffs’ counsel about evening plans or to ask the court reporter and defense counsel to move their cars. The movement of people in the adjoining kitchen was visible, and noises and smells emanated from the cooking that was taking place. A dog wandered throughout the house and came and went through a dog door behind the chair where the witnesses sat. Not surprisingly, the examination of witnesses came to a halt on a number of occasions as a result of all this extraneous activity.

Plaintiffs’ Counsel: We’re back on the record.
Defense Counsel: On the night in question, where were–
Plaintiffs’ Counsel’s Wife: Did you take out the garbage?
Plaintiffs’ Counsel: What?
Defense Counsel: Excuse me…
Plaintiffs’ Counsel’s Wife: The garbage.
Plaintiffs’ Counsel: Oh. No, not yet.
Defense Counsel: I’m trying to…
Plaintiffs’ Counsel: I thought that was Wednesday?
Witness: Where was I on Wednesday?
Defense Counsel: No, on…
Plaintiffs’ Counsel: This guy thinks it’s Wednesday.
Witness: What?
Plaintiffs’ Counsel: Huh?
Dog: Woof

According to Coleman, he needed to do the depositions from his house so he could access his complete files at any time during the deposition. He also said one witness liked his dog so what’s the big deal, anyway? Judge Harvey Bartle was not swayed by this reasoning:

Depositions, absent compelling reasons such as the illness or incapacity of a witness, should be taken in a professional setting devoid of domestic or other distractions. While plaintiffs’ counsel’s dining room is undoubtedly and rightly a place of commensal conviviality and canine companionship, it is not an acceptable forum for lawyers to examine and defend witnesses under oath. There will be no more dining-room depositions.

I presume we’ll be taking the dog to Ballard Spahr’s offices now.

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(Check out the whole order on the next page…)

HeadshotJoe Patrice is a senior editor at Above the Law and co-host of Thinking Like A Lawyer. Feel free to email any tips, questions, or comments. Follow him on Twitter if you’re interested in law, politics, and a healthy dose of college sports news. Joe also serves as a Managing Director at RPN Executive Search.

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