In Cadent Ltd. v. 3M Unitek Corp., an oft-cited case from the Central District of California, an Israeli company filed suit in Los Angeles, but refused to produce its witnesses there after defendant noticed several depositions of plaintiff and its officers (and an employee) who resided in Israel and New Jersey. 232 F.R.D. 625, 628 (C.D. Cal. 2005). Defendant moved to compel the depositions to be taken in Los Angeles and plaintiff sought a protective order requiring that the depositions be held in Israel, plaintiff’s principal place of business or, alternatively, in New York or Los Angeles, provided defendant paid, respectively, some or all plaintiff’s related expenses. Id. Rather than starting with the presumption that a plaintiff should be deposed in the district in which suit was brought, the court seemed to accept plaintiff’s argument that the presumption it should make was the one ordinarily afforded corporate defendants, i.e., that the deposition should occur at the principal place of business. Id. The court noted, however, that a “number of factors serve to dissipate the presumption” and “may persuade the court to require the deposition to be conducted in the forum district or some other place.” Id. at 628-29. Noting that even corporate defendants are “frequently deposed in places other than the location of the principal place of business, especially in the forum,” the court found that “several common sense factors militate[d] toward holding the depositions in Los Angeles.” Id. at 630. In the court’s view, it appeared “more convenient, less time consuming, and less expensive” to conduct the depositions in Los Angeles rather than Israel (which might be “dangerous”) or New York or New Jersey because counsel for all parties resided in and had offices in Los Angeles, at least one deponent periodically traveled to Los Angeles, and plaintiff conducted business in the district. Id. Again appearing to work from the presumption that corporate depositions should be conducted at the principal place of business, the court partially shifted plaintiff’s travel costs to defendants, ordering defendants to pay half the costs of airfare and lodging for the deponents’ trip from Israel to Los Angeles because depositions in Los Angeles “may save defendants considerable expense.” Id. The court noted that the prevailing party could ultimately recover those costs. Id. (while the court did not specify, a prevailing party may be entitled to recover certain costs pursuant to Rule 45(d)(1))., In a notable 2021 case in the Eastern District of Michigan, the court questioned the necessity of incurring travel expenses for an expert witness when a remote deposition could have been equally effective., What should a witness or party do when the proposed location of a deposition poses an undue burden or expense, and can some or all of the cost be shifted to the party seeking the deposition? The Location of Party Depositions Is Not Set by the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure..