Legal Question in Civil Litigation in California

Re: California Notice of Deposition

The plaintiff is entitled to take your deposition regardless of whether you consent to it and regardless of whether you have a lawyer. He has to follow proper procedures, though, and it is quite possible that he did not give you proper notice or that he made some other mistake.

Deposition notices have to include a time and place, and the party noticing the depo does not have to work these details out with the witness and/or opposing parties ahead of time. If you have a conflict or some other strong reason why you need to reschedule, you should try to make such arrangements with the plaintiff. Most lawyers are quite reasonable about such things; hopefully your pro per opponent will be, too. If he refuses you can seek a protective order, though your location and lack of counsel would make that difficult.

Depos can go on for a long time and notices typically say so just in case. That doesn't mean your depo will go on ad nauseum. Even if it isn't finished at the end of the first day, if the next day is bad for you you may be able to schedule the second day at a mutually convenient time. Needlessly prolonging a depo is considered abuse of the discovery process, and you are entitled to demand that the questioning stay focused so that this doesn't happen. If you think the depo has become harassing you can walk out, but he would then be able to bring a motion to compel you to submit to further questioning. If he wins you would have to pay the costs he incurs in bringing the motion (including attorney fees is he hires a lawyer) *and* in having another deposition.

That you already gave a depo in a different case in another state is probably irrelevant, though with more details I might see things differently.