In this video we talk about how you will NOT be alone in your deposition. Your lawyer will be there with you to make sure that you are not being asked improper questions.
Depositions are very serious things and you should be thoroughly prepared. We understand when you do something new there can be some nervousness. But don't be concerned about being alone -- you will not be alone.
Clients often have a lot of fears about depositions and we understand this because it is a new and sometimes strange process.
We ask our clients as we prepare them for depositions “What are your fears or concerns about giving a deposition in your case?”
One comment we hear is that they are afraid that they will be tricked because they will be alone with the other lawyer in the conference room where the deposition is taking place.
Please understand that if we represent you, we will be with you in the deposition. Our role as your lawyer is to object to any improper questions. This is true of any personal injury or consumer lawyer that we know – they will be with you during your deposition.
So please understand that while the process of a deposition may seem somewhat strange, and we address this through our extensive deposition preparation, which can take place over a number of days, you will certainly not be alone. Instead, we will be there with you to make sure that the questions are proper and appropriate.
We hope that this relieves at least the concern about being alone in the deposition and we will have other articles which will discuss other aspects of depositions that we hope you will find helpful as well.
We have focused this blog on consumer issues but we have spent many years developing our personal injury and wrongful death litigation skills over many cases. We have gained some insights into depositions and have shared a few of our preparation skills in our new blog - Birmingham Injury Blog - in five separate posts that we believe will be of use to our consumer readers.
The blog posts are as follows:
Four Keys To Being Prepared For A Deposition
First Key - Hear The Question
Second Key - Understand The Question
Third Key - Think About The Truthful Answer
Fourth Key - Only Answer The Question
While these posts are written with a slant towards personal injury cases and depositions, we still believe they will be useful to any consumer who is facing a deposition and wants some general thoughts on one way to approach deposition preparation.
We appreciate any thoughts or comments you have and if we can be of assistance to you, please feel free to fill out the "contact us" form to the left of the page.
You can also sign up for our free email newsletter sent out every Thursday morning - we cover topics such as the one in this post. We would love to include you! Just fill out the form below:
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Ronald Miller has a great post in his Maryland Injury Lawyer Blog about protecting plaintiffs in depositions. He makes the excellent point that a plaintiff or consumer "caught lying" can destroy the case. It may be as innocent as simply not remembering a car wreck or two from some years back.
Two observations - first, in a car wreck case Ronald's point about obtaining a AISG report on the client is well made. This will help the lawyer and the client make sure nothing is said (or not said) about prior wrecks that the insurance company lawyer can take advantage of.
The second observation is that whatever the case involves (car wreck, identity theft, etc) if the plaintiff lies, the case is usually over. I remember a case which should have been a six figure verdict completely go down the drain in about two minutes during trial when the plaintiff "exaggerated" the impact in the wreck. We need to stress to our clients to always tell the truth and never stretch or exaggerate - not only is it morally wrong, it will come back to bite them at trial.
By the way, Ronald's (and his partner Laura Zois) blog is one of the best injury blogs and one that we certainly keep in our Google Reader - check it out, you'll enjoy it.
You can also sign up for our free email newsletter sent out every Thursday morning - we cover topics such as the one in this post. We would love to include you! Just fill out the form below:
Another resource for you is to join our Facebook Fan Page - Alabama Consumer Protection Attorneys where we share useful information about the same types of issues that we cover in this blog.
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