Five-Minute Guide to Creating Invincible Deponents

How many times do you see a great case take a hit because your clients and witnesses don't hold up well in their depositions? Maybe they're afraid to adhere to their well-founded beliefs (resulting in answers like, "Well, I guess that is just my speculation." Sound painfully familiar?). Maybe the process overwhelms them. (Lawyers, reporters, observers, oh my!) Maybe they don't realize opposing lawyers aren't really there "just to find out what happened," aren't neutral, and play word games that tie your deponents in knots? As world-class deposition expert Jim Garrity says, "Depositions are the new trial." Why? Civil trials are rare. Fewer than five percent go to trial. So the outcome - through dismissal, summary judgment or settlement - will depend on deposition testimony. That's the only place most witnesses will ever testify. So thorough, proper deposition prep (invincibility training or bulletproofing, as Garrity calls it) is critical to success. With invincible witnesses, the strength of your claims or defenses will rise sharply. This field guide, the only book of its kind, is excerpted and adapted from Garrity's 490-page, 2019 masterwork on deposition practice, 10,000 Depositions Later: The Premier Litigation Guide for Superior Deposition Practice (also available on Amazon). This litigation pretrial practice guide to advanced deponent preparation is an excellent resource for litigators who must win their case in depositions. There are few books on the market written by truly high-powered trial lawyers. Garrity has one of the heaviest (and provable) civil trial practices in the US, in both federal and state courts. He has now taken in excess of 20,000 depositions - the equivalent of 25 careers or more for the average litigator. While some lawyers write books on other lawyers' cases, Garrity's guides are based on his own super-volume practice. It's first-hand, in-the-trenches expertise for shockingly low cost. He's fought every conceivable adversary, from the federal and state governments, to Wall Street's top law firms, to public-interest organizations, down to solo practitioners. They all use different tactics when taking depositions. This guide will teach you how to train your deponents to be ready for anything. Here's a sampling of the invaluable tips you'll learn in this guide: An introduction to witness invincibility. Matching the prep to the battle. Explaining reality versus TV & movies. Explaining the roles of opposing lawyers. Explaining how depositions are used against witnesses. Explaining how judges use deposition transcripts. Explaining how to express views with high-impact phrasing. How to explain that simply telling the truth isn't enough. Explaining depositions versus social conversations. Explaining the role of preliminary instructions. Explaining why guessing is so harmful. Explaining how to address present memory failure. Explaining how lawyers pressure deponents to change answers. Explaining how and why lawyers subtly rephrase answers. Explaining why lawyers interrupt & how to combat it. Explaining risks associated with documents presented. Explaining why a fast pace is harmful and how to control it. Explaining how to deal with very personal questions. Explaining why regular breaks are crucial. Helping Deponents deal with anxiety. Practicing for Unfair Tactics. How Lawyers Exhaust Witness Endurance. Dealing with suggestions the witness is a liar. Dealing with questions based on false facts. Dealing with examiner facial gestures and noises. Dealing with lawyers who repeat "You're under oath". Dealing with lawyers who physically encroach. Dealing with sarcastic and disrespectful lawyers. Dealing with repetitious questions. Dealing with legal-contention questions. Using pattern jury instructions to prep deponents. How to best conduct mock cross-examination