Ask the Attorney is sponsored by local attorney, Thomas W. McCutcheon, as a service to the residents of NW Alabama. I had a client come in this week to prepare for their deposition. They had looked up depositions on the internet because they were concerned about what they would have to do.

A deposition is a part of every civil lawsuit. They are questions by lawyers that are answered under oath with a court reporter present. They are part of the discovery process in a lawsuit and the answers given are subject to charges of perjury if knowingly false. As a practical matter if a false answer is given the result is a confrontation on the witness stand in front of the judge or jury in a manner that causes a loss of credibility for the witness.

In a lawsuit credibility is the ballgame.

When I prepare my clients for depositions, I ask them to read over their answers to interrogatories (written questions from a lawyer answered by a client) and go over with them the questions that will likely be asked during the deposition. I typically find a deposition that involves the same lawyer and ask my client to read that deposition so that they will know what questions will be asked. That is one of the most effective ways to prepare a client and to educate them about the process.

Clients are told what issues they will face and we go over how they will address those issues. If a particular scene of an accident is important to their testimony, we may visit the scene together. Witnesses are instructed to answer the question asked and stop talking. We tell our clients that although the other lawyer may seem friendly, they are not friends and they are not to view them in any way other than a business like fashion. I want my clients to be polite. I want them to answer the question that was asked and not some other question and then I want to them close their mouth and not talk until the next question is asked. I want accuracy and I do not appreciate speculation or guess work. If you don’t know the answer to a question, then the answer to the question is “I don’t know”. That can be the absolute finest answer to a question.

We are in the process of changing website design. I will publish a good example of a car wreck deposition and a good example of a workers compensation deposition on our new website in the next few weeks. The key to giving a good deposition is following these suggestions and maintaining focus on the deposition from the time you arrive at the deposition until the deposition is completed.

Buckle up and drive safely.

Please send the questions to: “Ask the Attorney,” P. O. Box 38, Florence, Alabama 35631 or visit my website at:

mccutcheonandhamner.com

We will not print your full name in the article. We will not be able to return any written or preprinted items which are submitted.

No representation is made that the quality of legal services to be performed is greater than the quality legal services performed by other lawyers.