When you are a plaintiff in a lawsuit, you can expect at least three occasions where you will have to show up somewhere in person for some event related to the litigation. In typical order, those events are: your deposition, mediation and if there is no settlement, trial. Sometimes, if the injury lawyers are particularly hopeful that a settlement can be reached, mediation might take place before depositions in hopes of saving money on the costs of depositions.
The first event, your deposition, is the opportunity for the other side to “lock in,” prior to trial, what you are going to say at trial (this will become more clear as you read further). The defendant’s personal injury attorney will likely take your deposition and your personal injury attorney will also probably take the deposition of the defendant at some point. In addition, the injury lawyers may want to depose other witnesses to the accident as well as police officers, doctors and anyone else who is likely to testify at the trial.
At your deposition, you will typically sit beside your personal injury attorney, across from the defendant’s personal injury attorney, with a court reporter beside and between you. The defendant may, but probably will not, be present. At the beginning of the deposition, you will be administered an oath to tell the truth by the court reporter.
You are, therefore, “under oath” during your deposition. After you are sworn in, the other injury lawyers ask you questions and you respond. The personal injury personal injury attorneys for each party (if any others) will each get a chance to ask you questions. Although your personal injury attorney may ask you questions, these will usually be limited only to helping you clarify any incomplete or confusing answers that you may have given during your testimony.
Your injury lawyer will probably prepare you for the types of questions that you will be asked at your deposition. However, just to give you an idea in advance, there are many categories of questions that the defendant’s injury lawyer will ask you. Some injury lawyers go into more detail than others; so a deposition can last anywhere from a couple of hours to eight hours or even longer, depending on the complexity of the case and your injuries.
There are a few questions that some injury lawyers ask that often “trip up” my clients more commonly than others, meaning that my clients simply do not know how to answer. One of those questions is “why do you believe that the defendant is at fault.” I do not believe that this is an appropriate question. Some clients confidently say what they think the defendant did wrong, like “he ran the red light and hit me.” Others get frustrated and lash out at the questioner.
Another question that really throws many of my clients for a loop is “how much money to you think you deserve for this accident.” This question, which in my practice is only asked about 25 percent of the time, almost always leaves my clients speechless.
Most of my clients have not thought deeply about that question up to the time of their deposition and do not know how much they think they should get. It is hard to put a price on pain, suffering and mental anguish and it’s especially hard for the person who went or is going through it, because no amount of money is sufficient.
Of course, I have a few clients who are just plain angry about the accident and immediately answer that question with something like “10 million dollars” even when we have already talked about the settlement range being $50,000 to $75,000.
This question can be important, though, in case it somehow ends up being shown to the jury. If you say that you cannot value it, the jury may be frustrated that they are expected to value it and this might lower what they give. On the other hand if you give some outlandish number, you just look greedy.
I think it is very important to discuss these questions with your injury lawyer before the deposition and how you should answer. I am not suggesting that the injury lawyer put words in your mouth, but rather than the injury lawyer help you to put your own feelings into words in a manner that is best suited for your particular case and circumstances.
Every word that is said by anybody while the deposition is being conducted is recorded by the court reporter. Different court reporters use different methods to record the information. Some court reporters use stenographic machines that they type on, some have little mask type devices that they speak into, repeating every word that anyone says. Some tape record the deposition either as the sole means of recording or as a backup in addition to another method.
After the deposition, the court reporter will make a written transcript of what was said so that the personal injury personal injury attorneys will have a written record of the other side’s questions and your answers. As for the costs of depositions, the personal injury attorney requesting the deposition normally pays for the court reporter as well as the original transcript copy.
Other personal injury personal injury attorneys usually pay only for copies of the transcript that they request. There are some special kinds of depositions in addition to the typical ones. If the other party requests a deposition duces tecum that means that you are required to bring documents with you to your deposition for the other injury lawyers to view and/or copy.
In addition, sometimes depositions are videotaped, particularly if the injury lawyer knows in advance that the witness being deposed will not be able to be at trial in person. Also, sometimes depositions of doctors are videotaped so that the party can save money by not having to have the doctor attend the trial in person, which usually costs much, much more.
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