A Day in the Office

In my work, I occasionally have the privilege of taking part in depositions. I'm sure most of you know what a deposition is but, in an effort at condescension, I will explain. A deposition is a way for an attorney to obtain sworn testimony prior to a trial. The lawyer asks questions and the witness or party answers those questions under oath. There's a court reporter and everything and both sides end up with a transcript of the whole thing. It's a fairly important part of a lawsuit and they occur routinely so most attorneys have developed a little spiel they give to their clients prior to being deposed. Just preparing them for what will be happening and what will be expected of them. I make it as straightforward as possible but there have been occasions when it didn't go as smoothly as I had hoped. This one happened about a week ago:

ME: OK, so you’re going to be deposed tomorrow. As you know, this involves the other attorney asking you questions which you have to answer under oath. Now, I’ll be there to object to any improper questions and to make sure everything goes smoothly, but there’s only so much I can interfere. In the end, it’s gonna be opposing counsel asking questions and you answering them. So, I’ve got a few basic ground rules that we’ll go over now. OK?

CLIENT: Is there gonna be a bible or something that I have to swear on?

ME: No, nothing like that. But the oath does mean that you will be testifying under penalty of perjury. That’s important and that’s why we’re going over these ground rules.We want to be sure you’re truthful without offering unnecessary testimony.

CLIENT: No bible, though.

ME: No, no bible.

CLIENT: OK. So long as there’s no bible.

ME: Uhh, ok. Right. No bible . . . So, the first and most important rule relates to how you answer a question. For any question asked, you should try to respond with one of four answers: “Yes”, “No”, “I don’t know” or “I don’t remember.” These answers will be sufficient for 90% of the questions asked. They’re important because they provide a truthful answer without providing the other attorney with additional information. Does this all make sense?

CLIENT: Sure.

ME: So, what are the possible answers you can give?

CLIENT: Yes, No, I don’t know, I don’t remember.

ME: Great. Let’s try a few practice questions and answers.
Are you a resident of Oakland, California?

CLIENT: Yes.

ME: Good. Were you driving your car on the evening of October 4, 2006?

CLIENT: Well, I was for part of the night but my wife was for part of it –

ME: –remember, you’re only answering with yes, no, I don’t know or I don’t remember if possible. Were you driving your car on the evening of October 4, 2006?

CLIENT: I don’t remember.

ME: . . .

CLIENT: That’s one of ‘em, right?

ME: Yes. Yes, that is one of the options. But what I need you to do is to choose the option which is the most truthful. You can’t just choose one of the four responses randomly. They have to be truthful answers. Remember, this testimony is being given under penalty of perjury.

CLIENT: But maybe I don’t remember. That could happen. Maybe I don’t remember if I was driving or not.

ME: If you don’t remember something, that answer is fine. This question is about who was driving the car the night of the accident, though. It’s what the entire lawsuit is about. If there’s something you don’t remember, you should answer that you don’t remember. If you do remember, though, you should give a truthful answer.

CLIENT: But maybe I don’t remember. I could maybe not remember something like that.

ME: . . . Yes, that is possible. But you do remember. This was the night that you totaled your car and your wife almost died. Let’s try again. Do you remember driving the car on the evening of October 4, 2006?

CLIENT: Sure. We had just left a party at my buddy’s.

ME: . . .

CLIENT: Yes.

ME: Do you see why answering “yes” is a better option?

CLIENT: Sure. There's definitely not going to be a bible or anything though, right?

ME: . . . no . . . no bible.