Two tips to clients for depositions: 1) be nice, 2) be brief. Those two rules, as any truly great rule based on simplicity, conveys so much more than the words seem to have on their own (another of my favorite simple-yet-profound rules: winning at basketball requires you to score more points than the other team... just figure out how.) By being nice, the deponents job is to avoid responding to attorneys who attempt to harass or intimidate the witness, and also give the opposing attorney (and anyone else attending or viewing the deposition) a challenge when considering how to conduct an exam/cross-exam at trial. By being brief, the deponent only answers the questions that were asked, and only in a concise manner. One of my favorite tricks while taking a deposition is to wait until the deponent has finished their answer, and then wait a few seconds. I keep looking at them, as though I expect them to say more, and usually, they do. Nervous people hate silence!
Posted on: Wed, 27 Aug 2014 15:00:23 +0000
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