Nolo's Deposition Handbook (1st Edition) - Softcover

Paul Bergman; Albert J. Moore

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0873375386 ISBN 13: 9780873375382

Publisher: Nolo, 1999

Synopsis

Getting deposed can seem as mysterious and complicated as the tango. What are the right moves? The subtle signals to send? Is it possible to make it through without getting stepped on? The new, easy-to-follow guide to the entire deposition process, The Deposition Handbook is one guide that won't leave users sweaty-handed.

The Deposition Handbook addresses witnesses, parties, experts and non-experts who will have their deposition taken; providing all the information, tips and instructions they need whether or not they are represented by a lawyer. Packed with concrete suggestions and examples, the book explains how to arrange a convenient date, prepare for the deposition and respond to questions with aplomb. The Deposition Handbook even includes the three "golden rules" for answering questions and points out the trick questions lawyers often use to try to influence testimony. Finally, the book discusses the questions one can refuse to answer and how to testify at a videotaped deposition.

The Deposition Handbook provides a separate chapter for experts, which explains the expert's involvement in helping the lawyer to prepare for the deposition. It also covers how the expert should prepare for the deposition and answer questions by the deposing lawyer; and how the other side will try to challenge the expert's opinion and establish that the expert is biased during the deposition.

The Deposition Handbook also addresses anyone who is a pro-se--either a person who wishes to defend her own deposition or the deposition of another person; or to take a deposition herself. Once again, the book explains, with numerous concrete examples and suggestions, how to: schedule and prepare for the deposition; question the witness, make and respond to objections, respond to improper behavior by the other side's lawyer, depose the other side's expert witness, take a videotaped deposition and depose a witness favorable to his or her case to preserve deposition testimony for use at trial.

Written by two UCLA law professors and attorneys, The Deposition Handbook enables anyone who has been deposed to sail through the deposition process smoothly, confidently--and with only one left foot.

About this title

Review:

Court cases are never as quick and tidy as television dramas would have us believe. In fact, most civil disputes are settled long before a judge has a chance to pound a gavel. That's why pretrial fact-finding procedures such as depositions play an increasingly important role in legal quarrels. In fact, it's not uncommon for a deposition to be the only testimony given. All of this explains why Nolo's Deposition Handbook can be such a useful resource. For the uninitiated, depositions are the process that enable either party in a lawsuit to question the other, as well as other witnesses, under oath before a trial begins. To prepare readers, authors (and attorneys) Paul Bergman and Albert Moore do a commendable job of dealing with real-life issues, such as what to do--and not to do--in preparation for a deposition, what to do if you're asked to bring documents to a deposition, how far you can be required to travel, and how to deal with trick questions that many lawyers love to ask. Three "Golden Rules" are also offered to help people through the deposition process. Put simply, the rules are to listen to the entire question and then answer only that question; answer truthfully and completely; and if you don't understand a question, don't answer it. The tone of the entire book acknowledges--without being condescending--that legal arenas are an area where novices feel quite underqualified. For example, the authors warn against engaging in seemingly harmless chit-chat with a companion before and during breaks in a deposition. The reason is one that most non-lawyers would be hard-pressed to imagine: Deposing counsel can ask the companion to reveal what the deponent said. Of course, readers intrigued by that line of thinking will thoroughly enjoy the last half of the book, which is devoted to those interested in representing themselves in legal matters. --John Russell

About the Author:

Paul Bergman is a Professor of Law at the UCLA School of Law and a recipient of a University Distinguished Teaching Award. He is the co-author, with Sara Berman-Barrett, of Represent Yourself in Court and The Criminal Law Handbook. He has also published numerous articles in law journals.

Attorney Albert Moore, a member of the California Bar since 1978, is a Professor of Law at UCLA, who teaches courses in, among other things, trial advocacy and depositions in complex litigation. He has written and presented numerous lectures, papers and articles and is the co-author, with Bergman and Binder, of Trial Advocacy: Inferences, Arguments and Trial Techniques (West Publishing).

About this edition

• Publisher: Nolo
• Publication date: 1999
• ISBN 10: 0873375386
• ISBN 13: 9780873375382
• Binding: Paperback
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 384