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How Attorneys Use Depositions

Depositions Used as Trial Tool

Your New Jersey personal injury law firm attorney may advise you that depositions may be used at trial in the following ways:

  • To impeach a witness.  When conducted properly, a deposition will lock the witness into a single story concerning the relevant facts.  A witness may be impeached if her or his trial testimony differs from the testimony given at deposition.

  • To refresh witness memory.  The witness’s memory can be refreshed by almost anything, including depositions.

  • To qualify as admission.  If your jurisdiction’s rules qualify testimony as an admission, your New Jersey personal injury law firm attorney is allowed to read out loud the admissions during your portion of the trial.

  • To replace live testimony.  Live testimony cannot always be replaced by deposition.  The rules pertaining to your jurisdiction must be followed, but in general, a witness must not be available for testimony due to death or illness since a witness is not allowed to be subpoenaed.

An experienced New Jersey personal injury law firm attorney will regularly review the rules that govern deposition used at trial in order to keep abreast of the different methods of using depositions, as well as the way those methods affect the deposition strategies he or she might employ.

Deposition Location

Depositions may be held almost anywhere there is ample room for the court reporter, lawyers and witnesses to sit comfortably.  The following is a list of general requirements:

  • Typically, office space of the attorney(s) connected with the case is used to conduct the depositions.

  • If the witness happens to be a physician, the office of the physician will be used for the deposition.

  • The office space of an attorney not connected to the case, the office of a court reporter, or the conference room of a hotel can all be used for depositions if they are to be conducted out of town.

Sometimes, the location in which depositions are to be conducted is given strategic importance by New Jersey personal injury law firm attorneys.  For instance, most attorneys will insist that their client’s deposition be conducted at their office, instead of the opposing attorney’s office, in order to ensure that the client feels as much at ease as possible.

Contact Us

If you would like to visit with a knowledgeable and experienced New Jersey personal injury law firm attorney about your case, please call the Clark Law Firm, PC at 877-841-8855.

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