Depositions are the opportunity for the lawyer on the other side to ask questions under oath of the other party. They are generally informal. It is a formal process, but they are at a lawyer's office or in a conference room, but they are not in a courtroom. A lot of people are very nervous about depositions and I'm going to attempt to relieve some of that nervousness and pressure and share with you what it's really like.
First, what to wear. Most important is to come across comfortable. So don't wear clothing that you are not accustomed to wearing. Up until this point in time, the parties have simply been a name on a piece of paper. They've never had an opportunity to meet with the lawyer of the other side. So, the deposition is all about the impression that you make and the impression that you make. Is that one of being comfortable going through the process and you won't be comfortable if you're not wearing clothing that makes you uncomfortable. What I always like to say is whatever you would wear to your place of worship, if you go to a place of worship or if you're going out to a nice dinner with a loved one or to a family event of some type -something that you're comfortable.
Three Simple Rules at the Deposition
I always like to tell clients simple rules and there are three simple rules and if you follow these three simple rules - you can't make a mistake. And the three simple rules that I give are first, listen to the question that's being asked. Second, take a moment before answering the question and think about the question - “What am I being asked?” And third only answer the question that they asked you. But here's what's important. At the end of the deposition, a few days afterwards may be several weeks afterwards, you will receive a transcript which is just typed up questions and answers. What was the question that was presented? How did you answer it? This is what is not on the transcript - TIME. You could take 30 seconds, you could take a minute, but when you receive the transcript, it doesn't say how long it took you to answer the question. There's no rush.
As you're sitting here watching this, if you were in front of me, I would ask you a very simple question at this point in time. I would say, consider this a deposition, and if I asked you what kind of sweater am I wearing? What would your answer be? I bet some of you said “blue.” Some of you said “v-neck,” some of you said “pullover.” Some of you said a “long sleeve” versus “a vest.” You're all wrong. Because the reality is I said, what kind of sweater am I wearing? And if you followed my rules, you would have said, listen to the question which you did. Take a moment before answering the question. You thought about it and then you guessed at what question was I actually asking? Because my question was very vague. What kind of sweater? So then you had to think to yourself, well, what kind of sweater and whatever came to mind. Oh, he must be really asking me color. Oh he must be really asking me pullover versus a vest. Oh, he must be asking me cardigan versus some other type of sweater. He must be asking him the long sleeve versus, short. I wasn't asking any of those things. You were trying to figure out what I was asking. Here's the magic of a deposition. When you're the one being asked the questions, it's not your obligation to try to figure out what you're being asked. It's the obligation of the lawyer asking you the questions to ask you a question you fully understand. The only time that you can get into trouble is if you guess at what the question is. So the answer to my question: what kind of sweater do I have? This is what you should do. Think about the question. Take a second before answering the questions. Say, what am I being asked? And your answer is, “I'm sorry, I don't know what you're asking me. Would you please ask me again?” You don't have to tell him why you don't understand it. You don't have to tell them and do their job for them and you're not being wise or a smart ass with respect to that. You're simply making the lawyer do their job because then they should say, well, you don't understand my question. “No, I'm sorry I don't understand your question. Would you please ask it again?” Then the question should come, well, what color sweater do I have on? What's your answer? “Blue.” That's it.
What questions should I expect at an Injury deposition?
Now, with respect to injury cases, there's three areas that you'll be asked questions about. First, who are you? The second part of what they will ask you is the event itself. The third, is really the most important. And then as part of the third section of the deposition, you asked at the end, usually three important questions. 1) tell me how you feel now 2) Is there anything you cannot do at all that you used to do before this? 3) Is there anything that you can do that you did before this, but you do with some of pain or limitation?