SB 1918 of 1978

Senate Bill 1918 (Beverly-1978)
Chapter 383, Statutes of 1978


The Senate Committee on Judiciary analysis of Senate Bill 1918 as introduced states that the purpose for this legislation “. . . is to eliminate unnecessary and costly deposition inquiry of personnel from large organizations when such personnel do not have the information sought by the deposing party.”  (See Exhibit #3, page 1)

The sponsor of this measure, the State Bar, provided the following discussion of the background circumstances driving this legislation as well as an analysis of the proposed amendments:

When a corporation, large organization or other entity employing numerous persons is a party to an action, it often happens that the adverse party desires to obtain information prior to trial which he knows the entity to have, but he does not know the name of the specific individual having that information.  As a result he must serve a subpoena on several officers of the entity and then frequently find that none of them has the information sought or, if he knows the name of one officer having some information, that officer may disclaim knowledge of certain areas and refer the questioner to others in the organization who may have the knowledge.  This results in frustration, unnecessary extension of the discovery process, and increased cost of litigation.

This proposal will permit the deposing party in his notice or subpoena to set out, with reasonable particularity, the matters upon which he wishes to examine the other party, and require the entity then to designate one or more persons who have the required knowledge to testify on its behalf.  In this manner when the deposition is conducted there will be reasonable assurance that the person to testify is the one with the requested information.
(See Exhibit #4, documents SP-2 and SP-3)

The State Bar also informed the Governor in a letter regarding Senate Bill 1918 that “[t]his proposal is patterned after rule 30(b)(6) of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, the experience with which has been very favorable in federal actions.”  (See Exhibit #10, document PE-6)  

The complete Legislative History Report and Analysis and documents with authenticating declaration expands upon the information above.  In addition to available legislative file materials from the Assembly and Senate Committees, the author and the Governor, our research typically includes review for competitor and predecessor bills, interim reports, hearings, studies and other relevant background documentation unique to this legislation.  To order a complete report, please contact us at Legislative Intent Service or by calling us toll free at 1-800-666-1917.