TENTATIVE RULING: The Motion of Plaintiff Alphatec Spine, Inc. for Protective Order Prohibiting the Deposition of Patrick Miles, or Alternatively Limiting its Scope and Duration is GRANTED. It is undisputed that Patrick Miles, as CEO of Alphatec Spine, Inc. ("Alphatec"), is an apex employee. [W]hen a plaintiff seeks to depose a corporate president or other official at the highest level of corporate management, and that official moves for a protective order to prohibit the deposition, the trial court should first determine whether the plaintiff has shown good cause that the official has unique or superior personal knowledge of discoverable information. If not, ... the trial court should issue the protective order and first require the plaintiff to obtain the necessary discovery through less intrusive methods. These would include interrogatories directed to the high-level official to explore the state of his or her knowledge or involvement in plaintiff's case; the deposition of lower lev
Hearing Date
November 01, 2018
Category
Civil - Unlimited
Type
Breach of Contract/Warranty
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TENTATIVE RULING: The Motion of Plaintiff Alphatec Spine, Inc. for Protective Order Prohibiting the Deposition of Patrick Miles, or Alternatively Limiting its Scope and Duration is GRANTED. It is undisputed that Patrick Miles, as CEO of Alphatec Spine, Inc. ("Alphatec"), is an apex employee. [W]hen a plaintiff seeks to depose a corporate president or other official at the highest level of corporate management, and that official moves for a protective order to prohibit the deposition, the trial court should first determine whether the plaintiff has shown good cause that the official has unique or superior personal knowledge of discoverable information. If not, ... the trial court should issue the protective order and first require the plaintiff to obtain the necessary discovery through less intrusive methods. These would include interrogatories directed to the high-level official to explore the state of his or her knowledge or involvement in plaintiff's case; the deposition of lower lev