Here's a Preview of the Deposition Setting for You Prospective Expert Witness Deponents

Depositions are like conferences or small meetings

. The side that has subpoenaed you will generally hold a deposition at their law offices and anywhere from 4 to 20 people will be there. Each side has to have at least one attorney present. Other attorneys may be there for specialized purposes, especially in a complicated case involving multiple litigants. Usually, each side will bring one to several additional interested people, including the clients who originally selected the attorneys.

occasionally an opposing expert and one to several employees of the opposing client's company will attend in order to check the accuracy of what you have to say. Finally, the Court Reporter will be there. He or she is a licensed professional who will type in legal shorthand a recording of every word that is spoken during the deposition proceedings.

Do not offer your office or your home as the site of your deposition. Other files and computer contents at those sites may be discoverable and you may be expected to allow access to them during your deposition. Let the attorneys find a space.

After you arrive at your deposition, and before it begins, the opposing attorney will ask if you brought your case file with you. Not only should you have brought it with you, but you should have read everything in it to refresh your memory. The opposing attorney will ask questions about anything that he finds inside your case file.

You should have shown that complete case file to your lawyer before arriving at the deposition. If your file has any privileged facts in it, your lawyer has the right to remove it before the other lawyer has the opportunity to copy it and ask you questions about it.

Your file folder should only contain information that you relied on to form your opinions. Do not take a laptop computer or an attach case or any other documents with you. The opposing attorney could ask to look at those things.

Opposing attorneys will by and large start by copying your file folder and its contents so they can refer to the copy during the deposition. You can refer to your original papers, referencing exact contents during questioning. If your file is extensive, it may take a while to make this copy, and the opposing attorney may begin the deposition without the copies or your originals being available. When this occurs, they by and large begin with an innocuous set of questions that address your background, experience and education.

An important point here is that you will not always have your CV in front of you to quote from or to refresh your memory about your own background. However, if you do not remember the aspects and dates, say so, and say that you would like to wait until your CV and case file have been returned to you. You do not want to omit entering into the record important facts about your background, qualifications, and credentials. An important reason for asking about your background is to validate that you have the training and specialized experience of your field that is required to qualify as an expert witness. Review everything in your case file, which should include an updated CV, before you arrive at the deposition.

Once the deposition begins, the Court Reporter will swear you in just as you see on television in a trial. At that point, the opposing attorney will usually begin the proceedings by asking you for your full name and ask you to spell it for the record. If you are new to testimony, he or she will surely suggest you a brief explanation of the procedure, and then ask if you know and if you have any questions. Obviously, ask any questions that you do have at this point.

After you have been deposed several times, the opposing lawyer will probably comment on that fact and skip over any lengthy explanations of the procedure. Some attorneys and experts suggest that you ask the opposing attorney to review explicitly the ground rules that you should know, even if you have been deposed many times in the past. regulations can change from time to time, or from state to state.

If the deposition proceeds and your case file has not yet been returned to you, you may not recall the aspects needed to answer the opposing attorney's questions. Do not work from memory. Simply say that a required piece of facts is in your file and you will be glad to address the question when your file is returned to you.

Here's a Preview of the Deposition Setting for You Prospective Expert Witness Deponents

By: Judd Robbins

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