Episode 69 - So, What About Standing (a/k/a Continuing or Running) Objections?

In this episode, Jim Garrity discusses so-called standing objections, where - in theory - the parties agree that defending lawyers need not make continual objections to a specific line of questioning in order to preserve their rights. What factors should you take into account in offering, or agreeing to, a standing objection? Garrity offers a wide range of practical tips to consider.Cases upon which this episode are based appear in the show notes below. Cases that begin with a double asterisk were added by our research staff after the episode was first aired.SHOW NOTESState versus Riley, 2021 WL 1904878, Ct. App. Iowa May 12, 2021) (criminal defendant objected to alleged evidentiary violation, but did not continue objecting to the same or similar questions; held, defense counsel “did not request nor receive a standing objection to the testimony,”, further stating that “the allowance of standing objections in trials at law is ordinarily not to be recommended”)Goutis v. Express Transport, Inc., 699 So. 2d 757 (Fla. 4th DCA 1997) (standing objection is narrowly tailored, and is “not sufficient to preserve an objection to statements other than those specific types to which [the standing objection was made]”)Carlisle v. Normand, 2019 WL 424681 (E.D. La. Feb. 4, 2019) (court noted large number of objections during deposition - 280 form objections in 322 pages - and concluded the objections were “frequent, often unfounded, and were highly disruptive;” held, deponent may be re-examined, questions can be asked that were previously asked, and “if plaintiffs wish to agree to the entry of a standing objection to form, [the defendant] and other participating defendants are required to accept it”)In re PSE & G Shareholder Litigation, 320 N.J. Super. 112 (Sup. Ct. N.J. 1998) (standing objection resulted in waiver where provisions of procedural rule made assertion of specific grounds for objections mandatory, even though plaintiffs’ counsel offered standing objection and did not ask for specific grounds at any time)Hosseinzadeh v. Bellevue Park Homeowners Association, 2020 WL 4901674 (W. D. Wash. Aug. 20, 2020) (objections deemed unnecessary considering that defense counsel had been given a standing objection to disputed topics; however, “the objections were also stated concisely in a nonargumentative and nonsuggestive manner, and did not meaningfully interfere with the witness’ ability to answer questions”)McColm v. Foremost Ins. Co., 2011 WL 3843917 (N.D. Calif. Aug. 30, 2011) (to facilitate depositions in lawsuit filed by pro se plaintiff, court granted plaintiff a standing objection to all questions asked during the deposition)Rainbow Popcorn Co., Inc. v. Intergrain Specialty Products LLC, 2008 WL 2184116 (D. Neb. May 23, 2008) (court criticized defense counsel because “he would not agree to a standing objection to alleviate the disruption of persistent and unwarranted objections. . .”)Natural Resources Defense Council, et al. v. Illinois Power Resources Generating, LLC, 2017 WL 6566863 (C.D. Ill. Dec. 14, 2017) (defense counsel’s refusal of an offer of standing objections to a line of questions “did not impede the deposition” and “the court sees no impropriety…”)Adventist Health System/Sunbelt, Inc. v. Medical Savings Insurance Company, 2005 WL 8159877 (M.D. Fla. Apr. 26, 2005) (court extends right to standing objection to defense counsel as part of broader order imposing conditions on the conduct of depositions)Synventive Molding Solutions, Inc. v. Husky Injection Molding, 262 F.R.D. 365 (D. Vermont Mar. 13, 2009) (court, noting that plaintiff’s lawyers conduct during deposition “was at times targeted to frustrate the defendant’s attempt to depose a critical witness,” further observed that plaintiff’s counsel “also made repeated references to what was, according to her, a standing objection made at the beginning of the deposition, and found other means by which she could disrupt the questioning, such as by asking that questions be read back on an inordinate number of occasions;” plaintiffs’ counsel objected at least 330 times, and appeared on at least 240 pages of the 350 page transcript, or more than 70% of the pages)In re Godfrey, et al., 2018 WL 11346518 (S. D. Fla. Sep. 7, 2018) (court noting that witness “could have eliminated the need for a second deposition by answering the deposition questions under a standing objection to questions [on a certain topic]”)Doe v. Maret, 984 P.2d 980, 985 (Utah 1999), overruled on other grounds by Munson v. Chamberlain, 173 P.3d 848 (Utah 2007) (“at a deposition a question calling for privileged information cannot be answered subject to a later judicial ruling on the propriety of the question”)**House, et al v. Players' Dugout, et al., 2021 WL 4898071, No. 3:16-CV-00594-RGJ, 2021 WL 4898071, at *9 (W.D. Ky. Oct. 20, 2021) (stressing crucial nature of making of objections at deposition where error is curable, failing which objection is deemed waived)Fed. R. Evid. 103(b), Rulings on Evidence, Not Needing to Renew an Objection or Offer of Proof (“Once the court rules definitively on the record — either before or at trial — a party need not renew an objection or offer of proof to preserve a claim of error for appeal”)