What will happen during my Deposition?

A deposition is a tool used in the discovery process of a case to gather evidence. In our injury cases here at Motheral Jones Law, depositions are taken of our injured Plaintiff clients. It involves taking your sworn, out-of-court testimony with a court reporter present who will turn your questions and answers into a transcript. The insurance company defense lawyer will be the person asking you questions. The most common topics will be:

who you are – your background, where you live, your education and where you work
your prior medical history from before the incident
a detailed description of the incident
your injuries sustained from the incident
the medical treatment you received because of the incident
the impact that your injuries have had on your life
if you are still injured at the time of the deposition how you are injured and how you are currently affected by those injuries and symptoms.

Since depositions are held during the discovery process, the questions permitted to be asked are broad. Some questions may not seem relevant, but they are allowed if they could reasonably lead to the discovery of admissible evidence.

What is a deposition?

A deposition is a questioning session usually held in a conference room of a law firm in the presence of a court reporter and all attorneys involved in the case. There is no Judge present during depositions. We also conduct depositions by Zoom or Microsoft Teams app. If it is requested and agreed upon by the clients, parties or witnesses.

The Defendant, Plaintiff or a witness will be answering questions asked by the opposing party’s attorney while that individual is under oath and sworn in by the court reporter to tell the truth. Depositions are used to gain more knowledge of the case and to further understand the cause of action that will be used for negotiations, mediation, arbitration and/or trial. Usually, the parties agree to the time and place of deposition. However, if a person does not cooperate, the party wishing to take the deposition may obtain a Subpoena for mandatory deposition.

This is what usually occurs when you arrive at the law office hosting the deposition and after you have checked in at the front desk:

You are shown the conference room and take a seat and are offered water.
A court reporter administers an oath where you raise your right hand and swear to tell the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth.
The defense attorney will introduce themselves and explain that the deposition is being taken down by the court reporter and all answers must be verbal. The defense attorney will usually explain that if a question is asked that is confusing, please ask to repeat the question or to please re-word the question.
The defense attorney will ask questions to gain basic knowledge about you and then ask more detailed questions about the incident.
Your lawyer may object to some of the questions; they will tell you whether to answer despite the objection.
The lawyers for other parties, if there are any, may also ask additional questions.
Your lawyer may ask follow-up questions to clarify some of the answers you have given, or may not have any follow up questions.

Once the court reporter has transcribed your deposition into written form, you are allowed to review it for errors or you can waive the reading of the transcript. Once the process is complete, the parties may use the transcript in court.

The most common outline for a deposition of an injured client is as follows:

Personal background – What is your name, address, and date of birth? Where did you go to school? Where do you work? Who lives in your household? What medications do you take? Have you ever injured the area of your body that was affected in the collision/slip and fall? Did you review anything to prepare for the deposition to refresh your memory?
A Motor Vehicle Collision case: Where were you driving? What did you do that day? Describe what you saw before the impact. Describe the impact. What did you observe on scene? Did the person who hit you say anything on scene admitting fault? Did any part of your body hurt immediately? Were you taken by ambulance?
A Slip and Fall case – Where were you when the fall happened? What were you doing at the time? Who was present? What shoes were you wearing? Did you see what caused the fall? Who did you tell about it? What did you do after? Did you see anyone fix the problem after you fell?
Your injury – What parts of your body did you hurt? What was your pain level? Did you seek medical attention right away? What related medical evaluations, follow-ups, and treatments have you undergone? What are your out-of-pocket expenses? Are you now fully healed? Is there anything that you could do before the accident that you cannot do now? What impact has the injury had on your life?

Depositions are one of the most important steps of litigation. During depositions, the attorneys will see how the Plaintiff, Defendant and witnesses will appear to a jury and flush out the weaknesses and the strengths of a case.

Have an experienced and knowledgeable personal injury attorney from Motheral Jones Law by your side during your deposition to help you through the legal process of your case and to achieve the settlement, award or verdict you deserve.