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March 2, 2023 | Media Coverage

Nelson Apjohn, a partner in Nutter’s Litigation Department, commented on how the Supreme Judicial Court (SJC) is considering the adoption of final rules governing remote depositions in Massachusetts Lawyers Weekly. In the article, “Litigators divided as new rule on remote depositions nears,” Nelson, who chairs the SJC’s rules committee, noted that he and other litigators on the committee sense a preference in the bar at-large for a return to live depositions. “That’s especially for important witnesses. There is more opportunity to communicate with and get a sense of the witness. Even dealing with counsel among the parties [is more efficient] when everyone is in the same conference room,” Nelson said.

He added that flexibility is an important feature of the proposed amendments. Nelson stated, “We tried to keep it relatively straightforward where parties had something to work with based on the economics of a case. We’re hopeful that, without getting into the minutiae of what you need to do in order to conduct a remote deposition, this will provide some rules that the parties are free to supplement.”