Legal Question in Civil Litigation in New York

Re: Ebt

In New York State civil practice, the first party to serve notice of deposition has priority. This is almost always the defendant. Defendant can serve notice along with its Answer, while Plaintiff must file a motion if Plaintiff wants to depose Defendant prior to service of the Answer.

In my opinion, priority does not create a significant advantage. While priority permits a Defendant to essentially "tailor" it's testimony in response to Plaintiff's testimony, there are many other factors involved in a lawsuit which trump any small advantage established by deposition priority.