How Depositions Work?

Depositions are a crucial part of all legal cases and trials, including personal injury trials. A deposition is simply testimony that is outside of a courtroom while under oath. The deposition is taken for the purpose of gathering information about a personal injury case. All testimony given in the deposition is admissible in the court of law during the litigation process. There are few important things to remember when thinking of depositions-that you will be told of the deposition in writing well in advance of the date, you may be represented by an attorney during your deposition and that you will be under oath throughout the entire deposition.

Everyone who is required to complete a deposition should be notified by subpoena, well in advance of the date. A subpoena or other type of written notice will be given to all important parties involved and will contain the place, time and location of the deposition. Depositions are important in personal injury cases, as all parties will have a statement to make regarding the incident or accident that occurred. The depositions of all parties will be used to reach a decision about the case, and decide the settlement amount.

Depositions are usually conducted outside of a courtroom, in a conference or meeting place. The people that will most likely be present are your personal injury attorney, the attorney for the defendant, a court clerk or stenographer, a judge and another officer of the court. The testimony will be recorded and transcribed and will begin with you taking an oath to tell the truth. All parties involved in the personal injury case will be present or will conduct their own deposition at another time. Sometimes you may be required to do more than one day of deposition, especially if your case is a complex one.

After the preliminary information is complete, the attorney of the party that requested the deposition will begin to ask questions of you. Your personal injury attorney will have a right to object to any questions that are asked of you. Sometimes a judge will still require you to answer a question that your lawyer objects to, but that question may or may not be used in court or other legal proceedings. After the deposition has been taken and transcribed you may be able to ask to see a copy of yours and other important witnesses in the case. The depositions ultimately will help to determine who is at fault and if money is owed in this personal injury case.