Michael FARQUHAR, Plaintiff, v. Francis Duffield SHELDEN and Dyer Grossman, Defendant, 116 F.R.D. 70

Summary

Defendant alleged that plaintiff could have made use of the Hague Convention on the Taking of Evidence Abroad in Civil or Commercial Matters, 23 U.S.T. 2555, TIAS No. 7444, to have secured defendant's deposition in the Netherlands, that his deposition had been taken in the Netherlands in other litigation, and that he offered to voluntarily give the deposition in the Netherlands and advance plaintiff's costs. Plaintiff argued that a deposition in the Netherlands would involve tremendous costs and inconvenience to a relatively impecunious plaintiff. The court held that in the absence of special circumstances, the party seeking discovery had to travel to where the witnesses were normally located, that depositions were presumed to be at the defendant's residence or place of business, and that there was no compelling reason to depart from the general rule requiring a defendant be deposed where he resides. The court held that plaintiff voluntarily brought the suit in the United States, that ...