Expert Advice When You Need It Most
Posted over 2 years ago. 5 helpful votes, 0 comments
1
Don't volunteer informationIt is not your job at your deposition to tell the opposing attorney everything you know about your case. It is your job to answer the questions that the other side asks, as concisely as possible. "Volunteering information" is almost always a bad idea. Realistically, you should abandon any idea that you might convince the opposing party of your account by telling him or her everything you know. In fact, often the other side does not know some of the things that you know, and if you make a disclosure of an item not previously known to the other party, then you can expect the other party to follow up on that matter by trying to obtain witnesses or find documents opposing your view. So, if you are not asked about a matter, don't bring it up. 2
Listen to ObjectionsAlthough our role as your attorney will be limited at your deposition, if we do object to questions you should listen carefully to the objection we make. We may be trying to help you out on your answer. If, for example, we object that the question would call for you to speculate or guess, that means we do not want you to be guessing at an answer while you are under oath. If you actually know what the answer is, you may go ahead and answer, but if you do not, and you would be required to guess, you are better off simply stating that you do not know the answer and are unwilling to guess under oath. In addition, we might object that you have already answered the question in previous deposition testimony, and we object to your having to answer it again. This objection usually means that we think that your previous answer was good and complete, and we don't want you to deviate from it. 3
The opposing lawyers knows almost everything about your case.Often lawyers will act as if they know nothing about a particular subject matter. Almost always, this is not the case. Usually the lawyer has gone into the subject matter carefully, and in fact knows quite a bit about it. Do not be deceived by the opposing attorney saying that he or she is really naive about your area of employment, or any other subject matter of your case. That kind of introduction is more likely a tip off that the other lawyer has done some serious studying about it, and should be a signal to you definitely not to volunteer information, and answer only what you are being asked. Related Questions3 Attorney answers: 
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