10,000 Depositions Later Podcast

In this episode, Jim Garrity talks about dealing with document requests included within a Notice of Deposition Duces Tecum, and how to determine (a) the due date for service of your responses and objections to those document requests, regardless of the actual upcoming deposition date, and (b) the due date for the actual production of responsive documents. As always, we genuinely appreciate your li...

In this episode, Jim Garrity explains how to seek an order limiting the duration of an upcoming deposition, including the rules you'll rely on and the arguments you'l make (for or against, depending). Occasionally, it's obvious that certain deponents - high-level officials, spouses, children, or privilege-bearing witnesses, to name just a few - have limited knowledge or involvement. If...

In this episode, Jim Garrity answers a frequent question he gets about Fed. R. Civ. P. 30's seven-hour time limit, namely, "The noticing lawyer questioned the witness for the full seven hours, so wasn't I still entitled to conduct my cross examination?" As always, he concludes the episode with excellent practice tips, here arguments to use when you need more time, and points to mak...

In this episode, Jim Garrity explains the pitfalls in defending against – or in asking - the common wrap-up question “Have you now told me everything that supports your claims?” (or defenses, as applicable). A deponent who is unprepared for this question is likely to foreclose any opportunity to add additional information. On the other hand, a lawyer who asks this question at the very end of a dep...

In this episode, Jim Garrity discusses a question he got from a lawyer whose corporate opponent refused to make the CEO available for deposition under the "apex doctrine." Garrity explains the advice he gave, which was to immediately notice a designated-representative deposition under Fed. R. Civ. P. 30(b)(6). He also discusses the value of designated-representative depositions in arbitrat...

In this episode, Jim Garrity highlights a June 17, 2022 court ruling where Fed. R. Civ. P. 56(d) was in play. This rule allows you to ask a court to defer ruling on a prematurely-filed summary judgment motion, in order to allow you more time to complete depositions for use in opposing the motion. Here, Garrity dives deep into the rule, and into the winning and losing ways to draft or oppose FRCP 5...

In this episode, Jim Garrity offers critical tips for preparing deponents who suffer from severe speech impediments. If left unaddressed, much of the deponent's testimony will be lost. It doesn't need to be that way, and Garrity offers a host of valuable practice tips to help litigators on both sides of this issue. This episode is based on the 13 reported court decisions in the show notes...

In this episode, Jim Garrity discusses a brainstorming meeting he had with the podcast staff about show topics for the coming year. One member suggested he develop a "top five list" of things that litigators should be doing, but aren't. Bad idea! As Garrity explains in the episode, there is no single list of things all trial lawyers should do. Effective deposition plans are highly indi...

In this episode, Jim Garrity explores the psychological impact of seating arrangements, and how various seating configurations affect the way witnesses and deponents perceive you. As he explains, some seating arrangements are intuitively collaborative in nature, and give off friendly, cooperative vibes. Others, the research shows, can create negative energy from the outset. As always, he ends with...

In this episode, Jim Garrity ponder the issue whether you're immediately entitled to obtain notes taken by a deponent while testifying or, to go a step further, the notes of non-attorney witnesses observing the depositions of others. As always, Garrity offers practice tip for those seeking such notes and those opposing their production. Cases mentioned in the show are listed below. And one mor...

In this episode, Jim talks about the problems associated with taking document-intensive depositions of remote video deponents who are participating on their cellphones. As always, Jim offers specific practice pointers for solving the problem. Have a great week!

In this episode, Jim Garrity explains what constitutes improper coaching during depositions, and offers a wide range of examples. As always, cases mentioned in the episode appear below in the show notes. Thanks for listening! And if you haven't checked out the book on which this podcast is based, you can find it on Amazon and just about everywhere else. Look for 10,000 Depositions Later: The P...

In this episode, Jim Garrity discusses an April 18, 2022, opinion from a federal appellate court, about a dispute between the parties over the accuracy of the stenographic transcript of the plaintiff's deposition. Despite the arguments made at the trial level about errors in the transcript, neither the parties nor the trial judges apparently obtained the audio of the deposition and made it a p...

Today Jim Garrity offers up 14 different, caselaw-supported, arguments to protect your client from being taxed with an opponent's videographer costs following an adverse case outcome. Many lawyers take for granted that the taxation of videographer charges is just as inevitable as for stenographic transcripts. That just isn't so. Listen for more. And remember our show notes contain all the...

Today, Jim Garrity interviews the chief legal officer of a company that offers commodity-priced transcripts with all the bells and whistles of the most expensive traditional court reporters. In the episode, the CLO, Dean Whalen, walks through the easy ABCs of using his company for reporting services. Here's a blurb from the company's website to give you a flavor for what you'll hear in...

No, we can't explain it here! You'll have to listen to find out. It's our way of thanking listeners for making this the top podcast in the country on civil pretrial deposition strategies and tactics!

In this episode, Jim Garrity tackles the question whether you can bluff a dishonest deponent - for the purpose of encouraging the witness to be truthful - by implying you have evidence that actually doesn't exist? This episode discusses a decision that confronted this precise question. A lawyer placed cassette tapes on a table in front of a deponent during the examination. The tapes were sugge...

In this episode, Jim Garrity addresses one of the most widely-held misconceptions about deposition practice. He also provides practice tips when an opposing lawyer "invokes the rule" and demands that one or more of your attendees leave the deposition room, to prevent them from hearing a deponent's testimony. Garrity also shares tips from the opposite viewpoint - what to do when you&#39...

As you know, our Lessons from the Front Lines episodes spotlight brand-new court rulings from around the country on deposition-related topics. Today's case in the spotlight raises an issue we covered last year in Episode #49 - whether a lawyer can properly ask deponents during depositions to search their cell phones for information (assuming the deponent was not subpoenaed to bring the informa...

In this episode - the first in a new series this year on testimonial privileges that can impede your efforts to depose witnesses - Jim Garrity explains the "legislative privilege," applicable to legislators and others who engage in legislative functions. It's not the same as "legislative immunity," and as with all privileges, there are ways to depose witnesses who can assert it...

In this episode, Jim Garrity stresses the importance of systematically asking deponents to catalogue their prior testimonial experience in any form or forum. A witness' prior testimony can be an intelligence goldmine. No company Garrity knows of maintains (or at least admits to maintaining) a readily-available record of where, when and on what its current and former employees have testified. S...

In this episode, Jim Garrity does a deep dive into Fed. R. Civ. P. 27 (and its state equivalents, because virtually all U.S. states and territories have a similar rule). Rule 27 allows you to take depositions before a lawsuit has been filed - and also when a judgment has been entered and the case is on appeal - in order to perpetuate/preserve testimony. But the rule actually allows so much more. I...

In this episode, Jim Garrity discusses an October 21, 2021 ruling granting a protective order blocking plaintiffs' depositions set on short notice. In the case Garrity discusses, the plaintiffs' lawyer sent emails - one 49 days before the close of discovery, and another 42 days before the deadline - seeking deposition dates for specific named witnesses. But the actual Notice of Taking Depo...

In this Lessons from the Front Lines episode, Jim Garrity analyzes Google's opposition to the deposition in a class action of its highest-level official, Sundar Pichai. The fight, which ended in a December 27, 2021 ruling allowing the deposition, implicates the judicially-created "apex witness" doctrine. That doctrine holds that depositions of top corporate, elected, and other governme...

In this episode, Jim Garrity answers some listener questions about depositions by written questions, and shares additional thoughts about the technique, which we covered in Episode 76. This will be our last episode of the year, and we wish all of our listeners a safe and happy holiday season and New Year. We're thrilled to report that we added thousands and thousands of new listeners in 2020,...