Imagine the following scenario: Plaintiff John Smith sues defendant Product Company in a product liability and toxic-tort action in which the alleged exposure took place 40 years ago. During discovery, Smith’s counsel issues a deposition notice pursuant to New Jersey Court Rule 4:14-2(c) for a corporate representative witness from Product Co. Among the subjects identified in the deposition notice is Product Co.’s design of the product at issue. Also listed in the notice are the warnings provided by Product Co. with the product, as well as Product Co.’s knowledge of any dangers posed by the product and one of its chemical constituents.
Due to the passage of time—more than 40 years—since the product was initially designed and manufactured, Product Co. has no current employees who were with the company at that time, nor are there any former employees who are still alive. As a result, Product Co. designates its current product design engineer as its corporate representative witness, who educates herself regarding the deposition topics specified by Smith’s counsel and then gives extensive deposition testimony—none of it based on her personal knowledge—on behalf of Product Co.
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