What is a Deposition?

A deposition is an examination that is held under oath in relation to the case you are involved in. If you bring a lawsuit because you’ve been injured in a personal injury accident, car accident, construction accident, premises accident for example, one of the stages of bringing that lawsuit will likely include appearing for a deposition. If you are being sued in an action as a Defendant, you will also likely have to appear for a deposition.

When we say an exam, it’s not an exam to test you in any way but it’s simply a process where the other side get to ask questions of you about yourself, your accident and your injuries. We tell everyone of our clients, it’s not a guessing game, its simply an exercise in finding out the information that you have related to your case. The purpose of a deposition is to find out what information that particular witness has and to allow all parties find out the essential facts of the case before going to trial.

Our firm deals with depositions in personal injury actions on a daily basis. For personal injury actions, we always prepare our clients in advance of the deposition and inform them as to why they are doing a deposition and what the deposition entails. We inform them that they will be questioned about their background because this is a personal injury action, and they’re entitled to get to know a little bit about you. In the same token, we are entitled to ask background questions of the Defendant(s) witnesses to get to know about them also. In addition, they will ask you questions about your accident, how it occurred, when it occurred and the details surrounding the accident. They will then ask you questions about your injuries, your medical treatment, and how the injuries from the accident have affected your life.

Where does the Deposition take place? Do I need to appear before a judge?

In order to bring personal injury lawsuit, a deposition is one of the most fundamentally important stages of that lawsuit. It is crucial that you have an experienced personal injury attorney on your side to prepare you and educate you so that you feel comfortable and prepared before undergoing the deposition.

Most depositions take place in a reporting office, you sit around the table with your attorney and the attorneys for the other side sit across the table and between the two sides, a court reporter or stenographer as they are called will transcribe what is said during the deposition. Since Covid 19 entered our lives, most if not all of our depositions have been conducted remotely over zoom which is very convenient for all sides involved and also allows the witness to feel more comfortable, some do it from the comfort of their own home, some come to their attorney’s offices.

It’s important to note that being questioned in a deposition is the same as being questioned in court because you are under oath, swearing to tell the truth so it’s important that you are truthful and prepared for your deposition.

If you’ve been injured in an accident, a car accident, a construction accident, slip and fall or a trip and fall accident, call the Law Offices of Darren T Moore P.C for a free consultation at 917-809-7014 and speak to our experienced personal injury attorneys who will guide you and direct you along the right path in relation to the steps that need to be taken to protect your interests.