Litigators face many challenges in their life – especially in the complex navigation and study of the law. One of the more complex things litigators have to tackle is interstate depositions and document discovery. Communicating a deposition between state lines isn’t only hard, it was practically a move of legal acrobatics a few years ago.
However, that has changed quite a bit with the introduction of the Uniform Interstate Depositions and Discovery Act of 2007. Since that act, making interstate depositions for willing and unwilling witnesses, and subpoenaing documents has become substantial easier.
This is a good thing, both for state governments and litigators themselves, because let’s face it – it isn’t exactly a rare thing for a litigator to have to reach between several states over the course of a single large case. And that calls for the need of an inexpensive, and more efficient method with which to help litigators and law firms perform individual interstate depositions and discovery.
The Uniform Interstate Depositions and Discovery Act – or the UIDDA for short – integrates the process in just one step. Litigators issue a subpoena to an appointed clerk of the court in the state where your witness resides, or in the state that holds the evidence, and the clerk then issues a subpoena for either the discovery, or the deposition of a witness. Through it, interstate depositions and discovery in Nevada and other states are made much easier.
UIDDA doesn’t affect the case in the state or jurisdiction where the trial itself is undergoing. It only takes effect in the state where the witness resides or document is being held. Additionally, subpoenas must be issued to a clerk of the court, or an attorney with the same power – any other setting isn’t valid for the purposes of an interstate deposition or discovery.
All in all, truthfully, it’s simple, painless, and works for most states in the country. Most states.
There are still some states that haven’t enacted UIDDA – and that can be quite frustrating. Other states have enacted UIDDA, but in a restricted form, calling for further permissions and hurdles before letting a discovery or deposition go through. It’s still better than it had been in the past, where most states and jurisdictions in the country had differing rules and laws, sometimes even calling together a local council to decide on whether or not a subpoena should be issued.
The Law Offices of Hayes & Welsh are available at all times for interstate proceedings between litigators, and work hard to protect the rights of creditors.
