<p>I’m having my deposition taken today in a lawsuit I’m (unfortunately) involved in. People ask if I’m nervous or worried about it but I’m not.</p>
<p>My attorney’s advice, in a nutshell, is to tell the truth, don’t elaborate unless asked, carefully read any documents they put in front of me before commenting on them, etc. Common sense stuff. I’ve watched too many courtroom TV shows where they ask for the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth, but I now understand that a deposition isn’t the place for the “whole” truth. I’m there to answer the attorneys’ questions, nothing more.</p>
<p>The only thing I’m at all nervous about is the swearing in ritual. If they ask me “so help you God?”, I’ll have to ask them to rephrase the question. Maybe I should just mention to the court reporter ahead of time that I’d prefer an affirmation to an oath. Can you do that?</p>
<p>I’ve been sworn to defend the Constitution twice. Both times I informed the oath taker that sorry, I was not going to swear any oath that involved religion. They immediately provided the alternative oath.</p>
<p>What I don’t understand, frankly, is why they don’t just use the religion-free oath as the default in the first place.</p>
<p>I agree. And as soon as I posted my “can you do that” question above, I realized how silly it is; of course I should preemptively ask the reporter to leave God out of it.</p>
<p>Any other last minute advice?</p>
<p>I now realize I lied in my first post. I AM nervous. I’m both looking forward to and dreading this.</p>
<p>Yes, my attorney’s advice was “Answer the question. Nothing more, nothing less. Do not expound on your answer.”</p>
<p>He also told me that I could stop to ask him a question anytime I wanted to (cover up the microphone, when speaking to him) and we could walk out of the room for a conference anytime I wanted to. I did the former several times and the later once.</p>
<p>yup, I babbled some thing in a traffic court without knowing it was detrimental, the prosecuter immediately took my words against me and I lost in the case.</p>
<p>My understanding is that a deposition is a digging for info session. Answer truthfully, but succinctly. If you are not 100% certain, then invoke the answer of politicians everywhere, “I do not recall”</p>
<p>If you are being deposed then it is adversarial, by it’s very nature, yet many of us who are truly innocent of any wrong doing and not involved in the legal system don’t realise how incomplete info can be twisted and used against us. I have seen a couple of clients and/or colleagues involved in litigation and what I saw seemed to show that common sense and who actually did what & when had less impact than which attorney filed which motion first, and which facts were and were not allowed into the proceedings.</p>
<p>I am sworn in regularly (I am not a lawyer nor do I play one on TV) and I think the drill is I raise my right hand and they ask, “Do you swear or affirm…” I don’t even pay attention any more.</p>
<p>Prior to this I was sworn in with a group and they had a box of bibles for the swearing in ceremony and we were told they were optional. Most took one, I did not.</p>
<p>It is reasonable to ask for a break if you need water, bathroom, etc. The attorney should ask how long it will be taking if it seems to be stretching interminably. The shorter and more concise your depo, the better for you. Your attorney should meet to prepare you before the depo. Bring a jacket as the AC can get cold when you’re sitting still, answering question after question.</p>
<p>If it is a yes or no question, answer yes or no. The other attorney will leave a pause to try to get you to expand. Resist the temptation. Do not answer double negatives. Ask them to rephrase the question. Don’t get mad or rude, looks terrible on the transcript. Don’t have a sense of humor, see above.</p>
<p>Yes or no or I don’t recall are the 3 best answers for your side. Don’t enjoy it too much–you will volunteer too much info. Try to be concise so it will end ASAP.</p>
<p>Since there are lawyers on this thread I have a really basic question on how a deposition works - </p>
<p>Who does the swearing in? Who is the ‘official’ in the deposition? Is it the reporter or do the lawyers function in a different official kind of capacity when doing a deposition? Is the reporter a regular court reporter that was assigned to do the deposition rather than be in the courtroom?</p>
<p>The court reporter does the swearing in and records everything that is said in the room, unless the parties agree to go “off the record.” The court reporter is hired by the party who is taking the deposition. It is often conducted in the conference room of the attorney who is taking it or sometimes in the court reporter’s office/conference room or some other mutually convenient location.</p>
<p>There is no one there to rule on objections, so if the attorney objects and instructs the witness not to answer, the witness can agree with the instruction and risk having the other attorney go to court to get an order that the deposition be continued with the witness answering the question. There can be some theatrics, depending on the parties involved, since there is no judge or jury present. Mostly the questioning attorney tries to get as much info as s/he can to lock down the witnesses testimony & not be surprised down the line. Depos are NOT conducted in courtrooms. The attorney hiring the court reporter pays him or her & generally buys one (or more) copies of the transcript and exhibits. The witness is allowed to review the transcript and note any corrections or changes on a sheet that is sent out with the copy of the transcript.</p>
<p>An attorney told me that the “worst” depositions are given by friendly, helpful people. They try to understand the question, or try to say things like "if by X, you mean this, then ". He said the worst tendency of deponents is to help the attorney, as someone posted above. He said that in addition to “yes”, “no”, and “I do not recall”, the best answer is “can you define what you mean by [word]?”</p>
<p>I’ve been deposed about 20 times, and I also testifed in federal court in Wilmington, DE. Now that was an experience.</p>