Deposition Tips from a Personal Injury Lawyer in Lafayette, LA
Before you give your deposition, a personal injury lawyer in Alexandria may provide you with a number of deposition tips. These tips can help you make the most of this important aspect of your case. Here are just a few things you’ll need to remember for your deposition.
Review Your Statements
Read over your complaint and the answers that you provided through discovery. This is important so that you can refresh your memory and ensure that you provide consistency in your statements. You don’t want to provide contradictory information, especially if it’s a confusing statement or if there is lots of information to remember.
Think About Your Injuries
Prior to your deposition, discuss with your personal injury lawyer in Alexandria how you were injured in the accident. Discuss how your injuries have affected your life, including your ability to work, recreational activities and your relationship with others. You want to make sure and detail everything, especially the pain and suffering you’ve experienced since the accident.
Work Up a Chronology
Give your personal injury lawyer a chronology of events that occurred since the accident. Discuss the specific details on the day of the accident. Also, include information about the treatment that you received by listing each doctor that you visited, the date when you visited the doctor and the reason for each visit. Similarly, complete a workup of the days that you missed from work. Provide your lawyer with documentation regarding your missed work and medical expenses. This is really important because this will establish your need, the cost you’ve already expended, and the missed work and missed paychecks you’ve experienced.
Be Honest
The most important tip that you will receive from your personal injury lawyer will be to be honest. Do not try to minimize anything that may negatively impact your case or exaggerate your injuries. Any inconsistency between your deposition testimony and the testimony at your trial can be used against you to call your credibility into question. If you are not certain about the answer to a question, say so. If you do not remember something, say that you do not remember. However, do not make these statements if they are not true. If you want to win your case, the most important thing is to have consistency and honesty in all of your statements. Be sure to list everything that you can remember and inform your lawyer of everything that may be helpful so that you can insure your statements are honest and will be the best to help you.
Listen Carefully
Only answer the questions that you are asked. Listen to the entire question before providing an answer. Then, do not give long-winded answers. Be concise in your statements. There’s no need for long answers, especially unpracticed answers, because those are likely to continue on until you make a mistake and the defense will pounce.
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