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A Philadelphia Personal Injury Attorney Talks About Depositions and Philadelphia Personal Injury

The discovery deposition is one of the most important stages in the litigation of a personal injury lawsuit. It is during the discovery deposition that the insurance company’s lawyer gets the opportunity to question the accident victim in person about the accident and the injuries suffered. Similarly, at the defendant’s deposition, your lawyer is able to discover much about the insurance company’s version of the accident. See Form 11 of Winning Your Personal Injury Claim for a sample list of deposition questions. Success on deposition day vastly improves the chance of a prompt and fair settlement.

Discovery depositions give the attorneys the chance to pick the mind of the individual that is being deposed. Depositions are usually held in the office of one of the lawyers. The testimony is taken under oath and is recorded by a stenographer. Thus, extreme care must be taken to accurately describe the accident and resulting injuries. By confronting an individual at trial with clearly erroneous deposition testimony, an attorney can devastate that individual’s credibility in the eyes of the judge, jury or arbitration panel. That is why thorough preparation prior to deposition day is a necessity.

Perhaps the most important advice your lawyer can give you during preparation for the deposition is to tell the truth. Even the craftiest lawyer has trouble tripping up an individual who speaks the truth and sticks to it. Clients sometimes think they can outsmart the other lawyer by bending the truth in their favor. More often than not, the other lawyer can figure out when this is happening and can expose the lie. An otherwise meritorious case can be lost by a small lie. Juries, judges, and arbitration panels have no sympathy for liars, even injured ones.