Dr. Graves tells you here how and why to use your deposition as part of getting the data to have your case succeed. As well, how to avoid unscrupulous tactics by shifty lawyers who want to turn fact-gathering into an informal “gotcha” legal move. Know your rights and preserve them by knowing the rules. You can win your case if you seek the truth and know what rules your case is being tried under.
Explained much more fully in my official Jurisdictionary course, you can slay your opponent with depositions!
But!
Depositions, like other tools in your "Lawyer's Little Red Toolbox", are best used 
- At the right time,
- For the right reason,
- In the right way!
These people are having too good a time!
A deposition is not a friendly coffee-klatch! It is not a "social event".
But!
Beware of sneaky lawyers, who will try to turn a serious fact-getting process into a "conversation". Do not allow it. When you see it coming, stop it immediately! Depositions are designed to get at "relevant facts", but "good lawyers" will try to lull witnesses (called deponents at a deposition) into a false sense of security. They do this to win, not to be "friendly". They do it to trick the witness into "chatting", instead of answering distinct, relevant questions.
Next comes the fishing expedition. "I understand you're quite a golfer, Mr. Deponent." Beware! The lawyer will set things up to go beyond the scope of deposition discovery. The next thing you know, the witness will be bragging on the exorbitant country club dues he's been paying. Or, he may tell about his success on the links in Las Vegas last summer. Don't be duped. The lawyer doesn't care a thing about the deponent's golfing. He's on a fishing expedition. He's after something else.
Here's the rule that constrains depositions to the facts (explained more fully in my official Jurisdictionary course):
The scope of discovery (requests for admissions, requests for production, interrogatories, depositions, and subpoenas) is limited by the rules to finding facts that are "reasonably calculated to lead to discovery of admissible evidence"!
A golfer's handicap has nothing to do with his mortgage or child support or where he was last summer!
Say, "Objection! Goes beyond the scope of discovery!"
If the other side continues to abuse the rule, you have the right to terminate the deposition and file a motion with the court for an order directing the lawyer to keep within the rule.
On one occasion in my 25 year career as a case-winning attorney, the lawyer on the other side was so devious and his client (an insurance company executive) so evasive, that I obtained an order from the court appointing a special master to oversee the deposition and rule on my objections then-and-there. I got my evidence out of that executive, and the insurance company settled the day before trial!
In another case the opposing lawyer was so ridiculous, I was required to move the court for an order to hold the deposition in front of the judge in the courtroom! That was the end of the tricks and games.
There's much more you need to know to successfully use depositions in your case, but I'll leave that to the course.
You need to know:
- When (knowing what facts to get beforehand),
- Why (knowing what critical facts you need), and
- How (knowing much more about technique).
When I first started learning 25 years ago what I make easy for you to learn with my affordable Jurisdictionary self-help course, the business of law was often confusing and overwhelming. Getting my feet wet as a fledgling lawyer, I often had to go up against lawyers who had as much experience as I have now, and they didn't cut me any slack. The advantage I had over younger lawyers (I didn't start my practice until age 42) was down-home common sense and life experience. All those years at a snooker table in my early life paid off, so I learned quickly how to get around the traps and tricks of my opponents. In the past quarter-century I learned what it takes to win!
It's not all about the law, you see!
It's all about knowing how to use the rules!
The substantive law that applies to any particular case is always easy to find, identify, and cite in a way that will control the judge.
The procedural law, on the other hand (evidence rules and rules of procedure) are like a recipe ... for success or failure!
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