At some point during your case, you may be asked to take a deposition. This may trigger feelings of stress or worry, however, the attorneys at Romano Law Group will thoroughly prepare you, should your deposition need to be taken.
The Basics: What is a Deposition?
A deposition is simply a “question and answer” session that takes place under oath. At the Romano Law Group, we are trial lawyers who work hard to preserve favorable evidence that will be used at trial to win your injury case. One way to preserve that evidence is by taking the deposition of witnesses or of the person that committed the negligence under oath.
Depositions are opportunities to learn facts and details about the case from the witnesses, at-fault drivers, first responders, or any other person that may have information about what happened. During a deposition, the person being asked the questions is called the deponent. Before the deposition begins, the deponent is placed under oath and informed that their answers in the deposition are to be truthful. Other people likely to be in the deposition with the deponent are the attorney asking the questions, the court reporter, and sometimes a videographer. The court reporter takes down every word that is said once the deposition begins and complies the questions and answers into a transcript that can be used later for trial or any disputes that require a hearing. A videographer may also be present if the deposition is to be recorded and played back at trial.
The Prep: How to Prepare for Your Deposition?
A deposition is not a memory game. While you are not required to prepare or review anything beforehand; it generally helps to refresh your memory if you have given a prior statement, written interrogatory answer, or a diary/journal with a statement you have previously made about the incident. This is because a deposition may be scheduled years after the incident occurred and that lapse of time can cause you to forget important details that you previously documented.
Another great thing to do before your deposition is to review any video surveillance or photographs that document the incident, the scene, or your injuries. First, reviewing these items can be helpful because it may refresh your memory. Also, if video or photographs have been used to document the evidence in your case then, it is more likely than not that these will be used during your deposition as part of your questioning. It is important that you have had a chance to view the images or video before the day of your deposition.
The Depo: How to Answer Deposition Questioning
Once your deposition begins, it is important to remember these basic rules:
(1) be truthful;
First, truthful answers are the only way to learn the facts about what happened and hold those who committed negligence responsible for their actions. The most important rule of a deposition is to be truthful. Honesty is so important because depositions are also useful for impeachment. Impeachment is a legal attack on someone’s credibility that can be demonstrated to a jury by using prior statements under oath which demonstrate that the witness’s credibility for truthfulness may be skewed. It is also important to understand that sometimes a truthful response is “I don’t know”.
(2) be confident;
Second, being confident during your deposition might sound strange but, if you step into your deposition with your attorney and you understand what to expect then you are more likely to be confident with the process. The person asking the questions simply wants to know what you heard, saw, and felt prior to, during, and after the incident. A deposition does not need to be an intimidating experience once you understand that it is simply a fact-finding exercise and that there is no right or wrong answer.
(3) be comfortable with silence.
Third, a deposition is not a regular conversation. It is a question and answers session that will have a great bearing on your legal case. At times during the deposition, you may feel as if you are having a conversation with the other attorney and want to fill in the gaps of silence but, a deposition is not a conversation. You must be comfortable with the silence following your response and the next question. Oftentimes, it is a strategic tactic of the other side to delay in asking their next question in order to create an awkward silence that you will want to fill up with more answers or irrelevant conversation. Be patient and stay calm because there will be gaps of silence during any deposition and that is okay. You do not need to fill every moment of silence.
What makes Romano Law Group different?
“We must be good, caring, compassionate, warm and understanding people. Otherwise we cannot fully appreciate the needs of the client.” Following this simple yet profound ideal, since 1991 our attorneys have been striving to listen to clients, and through a communicative relationship, deliver the best results we know how. We have litigated thousands of personal injury, wrongful death, criminal defense and business/commercial dispute cases throughout Florida and across the United States. We have long-standing relationships with other attorneys who refer many cases to our firm. Founding attorney John Romano’s passion for his profession and commitment to justice is truly the spirit of our firm. John and his team of attorneys at Romano Law Group have built a reputation for winning the unwinnable cases-and standing up for the underdog. Because every person has a cause. They just need someone to believe in it.
Authored by Destiny R. Barbosa
