Your Office Called to Have Me Prepare for My Deposition, What’s the Big Deal?

I’m Katelyn Holub, an attorney focusing on personal injury law in northwest Indiana.

Welcome to Personal Injury Primer, where we break down the law into simple terms, provide legal tips, and discuss topics related to personal injury law.

Today’s question comes from a client who called and said “Your Office Called to Have Me Prepare for My Deposition, What is the Big Deal? Is My Deposition Really That Important?

Many times a personal injury case client will ask “is my deposition really that important?” … The answer is yes, but only if you want to win. …

A deposition is a statement under oath taken down by a court reporter.

Yes, preparing for a deposition is a bit of a pain. To properly prepare you need to review the facts of your case with your attorney so that your memory is refreshed and you can answer accurately.

And, answering questions posed by the attorney for the other team is difficult and requires thoughtful consideration of the question before it is answered.

In other words, you don’t get points for answering quickly, or answering before you have listened to the entire question. The game is won by thinking before answering and by not providing information that was not asked.

In other words, if the question is “do you know what the date is today?”, the answer should be “yes, or no”, not a response that actually provides the date.

But, the overriding most important part of a deposition is really simple: Tell the Truth.

Witnesses are obliged to tell the truth, even when they think the truth will hurt their case.

But, often a truth that a client might think will hurt them, does not at all hurt their case.

For example, if the “truth” of your past medical history in a case involving a broken leg is that 10 years ago you broke the same leg, it is not damaging to your case to admit that fact.

Rather, the biggest mistake of all is to deny such a fact. Why? Because records will easily show that the denial was either a mistake, or a lie. Mistakes can hurt you at trial, but lies can kill you at trial.

All things considered, a deposition is fairly easy as long as you don’t get rattled or upset by the questions posed. If you prepare and go over things with your attorney beforehand, you will NOT be rattled or get upset. If you follow the advice of your attorney, you will do well. You will make a good impression on the defense attorney, who will be reporting back to the people who decide if they will settle with you, or if they want to go to trial against you.

Oh, and don’t worry about handling objections – your lawyer may object to certain questions asked by the defense attorney, but that is your attorney’s job, not your job.

I hope you found this information helpful. If you have questions about your legal rights if you get hurt due to the carelessness of another person, or as a result of substandard medical care, or due to a product defect, construction injury, or any other type of personal injury, please give us a call at (219) 736-9700. You can also learn more about us by visiting our website at www.DavidHolubLaw.com – while there make sure you request a copy of our book “Fighting for Truth”.