As a general rule, a lawyer has no right to instruct his client or a witness not to answer a question at an oral deposition unless the question calls for information that is privileged. The better practice is to object to the question and allow the witness to answer subject to the objection.
Full Answer
Just because an attorney asks you a question or asks about a certain topic during your deposition, doesn't mean they will be able to get that information in front of the jury if your case goes to trial. Remember, this is the 'discovery' phase of your lawsuit.
In ruling that it was indefensible for plaintiff’s counsel to direct the deponent not to answer questions asked at deposition, the court stated: The questions put to [the deponent] were germane to the subject matter of the pending action and therefore properly within the scope of discovery.
If an attorney taking a deposition asks the deponent to testify about a conversation the deponent had with his counsel, the deponent can refuse to answer the question based upon the attorney/client privilege.
In other words, you should treat a depostion as if you are testifying in court. Just as you have the right to refuse to answer questions in court, you may refuse to answer depostion questions -- under certain circumstances.
Your doctor denies all of your allegations. That means your case will likely go the distance and proceed to the 'discovery' phase. That's the part where each side must exchange documents. That's the part where each side gets to 'discover' what the claims are and what proof there is to support your allegations.
This is known as 'making a motion' . That requires us to respond. In the defense's request to the court demanding an answer from you, they will likely ask the judge to impose a penalty on you for refusing to answer a proper question.
If you refuse to answer multiple questions, you can expect the defense attorney to say "Mark that for a ruling," repeatedly. Depending on how important the topic is, the defense attorney may make a formal request to the judge to intervene. This is known as 'making a motion'. That requires us to respond.
This question and answer session is known as a 'deposition' or an 'examination before trial'.
Just because an attorney asks you a question or asks about a certain topic during your deposition, doesn't mean they will be able to get that information in front of the jury if your case goes to trial.
The first is where the defense lawyer asks you what you and your attorney talked about. That's a big no-no. Any conversation between you and your lawyer is private and confidential. There's no chance the defense attorney will get that information.
There's no jury there. But there is a court stenographer there to record all of the questions and all of your answers. Your answers represent your sworn pre-trial testimony. It carries the same exact weight as if you are testifying at trial.
Rule 30 of the North Carolina Rules of Civil Procedure says that: " [s]ubject to any limitations imposed by orders entered pursuant to Rule 26 (c) or 30 (d), evidence objected to shall be taken subject to the objections ." NCRCP 30 (c).
The questions which the witnesses in the Griggs case refused to answer fell into two categories. The first was questions concerning the Plaintiffs' net worth, which the Defendants said were relevant to the Plaintiffs' ability to pay punitive damages if the Defendants succeeded on their counterclaims.
In addition to granting the Motion to Compel, Judge McGuire ordered the Plaintiffs to pay more than $3,000 in attorneys' fees for their misconduct..
That booklet is called a transcript. That's your deposition transcript. In legal circles a deposition is also known as an examination before trial. When you bring a lawsuit, you put your medical condition in issue.
That means the defense is entitled to learn about you and your injury. They do this through a process called 'discovery'. What a trend-setting name. Discovery allows the defense lawyer to get copies of your medical records.
Not true. Every client talks to their attorney. Every client must be prepared for their deposition. The defense lawyer is just fishing for information. He's throwing his line into the water, not knowing what, if anything, he'll catch.
Regardless, the defense lawyer knows he will be unable to get a witness to talk about the conversation you had with your lawyer. He can learn that you had a conversation. That's fine. He will try and imply that something sinister is going on because you talked to your attorney before your deposition.
The defense lawyer must have a good faith basis to ask the question. He can't ask it just for kicks.
He may not be able to ask that same question at trial, but during a deposition, it may be fair game. Even if he gets an answer to a strange question, again, it doesn't mean he'll be able to use it later on at trial. You need to know that during this pretrial question and answer session there are two types of questions which you should NEVER answer.
A statement much too frequently made by a witness’ counsel during a deposition is: “I object to that last question and I instruct my client not to answer it.” This impeding declaration is usually swiftly met with the sharp response: “Certify the question.” 1 W hile there exists a variety of reasons why an attorney may instruct a deponent not to answer, in most situations this brief dispute between counsel expires upon the conclusion of the deposition.
In situations where a deponent fails to answer a deposition question, Rule 37 (a) (2) of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure provides that the deposing counsel may apply for an order compelling discovery either to the court where the action is pending or to the court in the district where the deposition is being taken.
During pretrial discovery, the defendant took the deposition of the plaintiff’s principal witness and plaintiff’s counsel effectively stopped the examination through persistent instructions to the deponent not to answer questions posed by counsel for the defendant. In ruling that it was indefensible for plaintiff’s counsel to direct ...
If the court later sustains the objection, the objectionable testimony will be ruled inadmissible. In view of the expressed judicial consternation toward instructions not to answer, a lawyer who improvidently does so runs a serious risk of being subject, along with his or her client, to significant monetary and other sanctions.
Like the federal rules, the Florida Rules of Civil Procedure provide no basis for an attorney’s instruction to a witness not to answer a question submitted at an oral deposition. Moreover, Rule 1.310 (c) of the Florida Rules of Civil Procedure, which precisely mirrors Rule 30 ...
The defendants attempted to obtain information about the plaintiff’s school records and former teachers. At the depositions of the school personnel, the defendants’ attorneys asked numerous questions about the plaintiff’s background, to which the plaintiff’s attorney objected and instructed the witnesses not to answer.
However, when these alternatives prove futile, counsel may be required to seek a judicial’ resolution of the dispute over the controversial question in the form of a motion to compel and/or a motion for protective order. This article will discuss the propriety and the wisdom of instructions not to answer questions asked at an oral deposition ...
Attorneys make objections to questions during a deposition for multiple reasons, including objections to the form of a question, objections related to relevance of a question or objections on the basis of hearsay. The deponent generally must still answer despite these objections. If an attorney objects based upon a privilege, however, ...
A deposition is an oral examination under oath taken during a lawsuit or other court proceeding. In most states, the person answering deposition questions, called the deponent, must answer every question unless the answer is protected by a privilege or a prior court order.
At the deposition, the court reporter asks the deponent to swear or affirm that she will tell the truth to the best of her knowledge. The court reporter will take down everything the deponent and the attorneys say in the deposition. When neither side has any additional questions, the deposition is concluded.
The attorney/client privilege exists as long as the communication at issue was not witnessed by any third parties who are not agents of the client or the client's attorney. For example, if a lawyer and a client have a conversation at the lawyer's office, and the lawyer's paralegal is listening, it is still a privileged communication because the paralegal is an agent of the attorney. However, if the conversation occurs in front of the client's friend or in the hallway of the courthouse in front of strangers, there is no privilege.
During a lawsuit, the parties engage in a process called discovery. During the discovery period, both sides make requests of the other side for documents, answers to written questions and oral testimony . The oral testimony is taken before a court reporter authorized to administer oaths, normally at the office of one of the attorneys in the case, ...
If an attorney taking a deposition asks the deponent to testify about a conversation the deponent had with his counsel, the deponent can refuse to answer the question based upon the attorney/client privilege.
The Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, which apply to all civil cases filed in federal courts, require deponents to answer every question unless the information is privileged or the court has previously ordered that the information cannot be revealed. A deponent may also refuse to answer if his attorney moves to limit or terminate the deposition based upon bad faith by the deposing attorney.
In New York, the conduct of counsel in a deposition is governed by CPLR § 3115 and the Uniform Rules for the Conduct of Depositions, 22 NYCRR Part 221.
Brightman involved as claim of employment discrimination. The issue before the Court was “the conduct of plaintiff’s deposition.” Slip Op. at *1.
Yes, any party (or their attorney if represented by an attorney) can ask the deponent questions at the deposition. It is fairly rare for the deponent's attorney to ask questions of the attorney's own client, except to clarify points raised earlier in the deposition.
The opposing party can be asked questions by their own attorney. There are many reasons why the opposing counsel will not want extensive testimony by their client in a deposition.