10,000 Depositions Later Podcast

In today's Lessons from the Front Lines - special episodes where we spotlight new deposition-related rulings in active lawsuits around the U.S. - Jim Garrity takes a look at a California case where a deponent and his counsel terminated a deposition, but then smartly took steps to immediately resume it - within just nine minutes - and effectively avoided sanctions. It was a great tactic. Jim di...

In this episode, Jim Garrity talks about the risk litigators face of being sued for asking deposition questions that deponents perceive as defamatory or malicious. Jim reviews the "litigation privilege," both in its absolute and qualified form, and offers practical tips based on nearly a dozen real-life cases, where deposition questions or conduct led to lawsuits against the lawyers, their...

Join Jim Garrity in a deep dive into the law of short-notice depositions, which can trigger astonishingly severe consequences. The federal rules define "short notice" as a deposition set with less than 14 days' notice. In this episode, Jim outlines the rule, the cases, and more than a dozen tactical tips and pointers. And be sure to check out the show notes, below, which cite to a few...

It's not unusual for adversaries to cross-notice your key depositions, either of their own witnesses or of non-party deponents. That allows them unfettered ability to conduct a wide-open, more focused followup examination (after listening to yours). In this episode, Jim Garrity shares a tactic for flipping the script on your opponents, forcing them to go first, and allowing you to sit back and...

In this episode, Jim Garrity talks about one of the greatest time and money-saving tools you've never heard of. Fed. R. Civ. P. 29(a) stipulations allow you to eliminate both expected and unexpected hassles in your depositions, and even to eliminate court reporters, for tremendous cost savings. Jim outlines the rule, offers nearly a dozen great practice tips, and includes (in these show notes,...

Did you know your court reporter's machine keeps track of the total elapsed time of the examination while the deposition is in progress? Right down to the second? And that the reporter can easily share that elapsed time with you as the deposition progresses? Did you also know that you can ask the reporter to add - on the transcript itself - the exact time (also down to the second) of each ques...

You need to depose a high-ranking government or corporate official, but their lawyer refuses, saying the official is protected by the Morgan Doctrine, sometimes called the Apex Doctrine. This principle stands for the proposition that high-level officials may be able to avoid being deposed by showing either that they lack meaningful personal knowledge or that others of lower rank can provide the sa...

In a November 30, 2020 Memorandum Order, a federal judge imposed sanctions against a lawyer for alleged excessive and improper objections during depositions. According to the Order, the defense attorney was accused of making 565 objections in one deposition, 187 in another, and 170 in a third, for a total of 922 in just those three. In this episode, Jim Garrity discusses the case and shares his th...

Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 30(b)(6) - the subsection that allows you to compel an organization to produce a representative who can testify knowledgeably about topics you selected - has just been amended. Effective today, December 1, 2020, litigators are now required to confer about the matters for examination, and must do so either (a) before the deposition is noticed (or subpoena served), or...

Courts have been ruling on the question for years: Is it proper to ask the same questions in depositions that you just asked (and received answers to) in interrogatories? In this episode Jim Garrity definitively answers the query, and provides practical guidance for you. This podcast is based on the best-selling 450-page field guide, 10,000 Depositions Later: The Premier Litigation Guide for Super...

What to do when you reach out to schedule an opponent's expert witnesses for deposition, and are told that you've got to pay the experts an outrageous hourly-rate or flat-rate fee (in advance) before they'll appear? In this episode, Jim Garrity reviews an excellent November 18, 2020 court ruling on the issue, and offers tips for combating this discovery obstacle.

Tired of fighting over protocols for your remote depositions? We've got the solution. In this episode, Jim Garrity discusses a fourteen-page list of protocols negotiated between some of the best lawyers in the world, and then adopted by a highly-respected federal judge. It's a great model to use in developing remote deposition procedures in your own cases. We'll also tell how to find a...

A November 10, 2020 Discovery Order from a California federal judge says "asked and answered" objections are improper speaking objections. Jim Garrity says the ruling is clearly wrong, because "asked and answered" is a proper form objection with origins in at least two federal rules of evidence (403 and 611). Listen to Garrity's analysis of the ruling and the rules.

Should you cross-notice depositions set by another lawyer? How does cross-noticing benefit you? What's the chief reason you ought to cross-notice a deposition? We give you the scoop on this technical move, and tell you when it really serves its purpose. Don't miss the expert insights from national deposition expert Jim Garrity.

You're defending a deposition, and the form of the examining lawyer's questions are improper. What's the correct way to make your form objection? Is it just saying the word "Form"? Or, must you also state the legal basis for your form objection, such as "Form, leading?" Many courts have said that if your objection isn't properly asserted, you've waived it. So, w...

Many of your lawsuits involve events that can be physically demonstrated or re-enacted. Indeed, your success in pursuing your claims or defenses may depend on the jury's acceptance that an event took place exactly as you assert. So a videotaped deposition in which you require a witness to demonstrate or re-enact their conduct can be compelling visual proof. Don't overlook this powerful too...

Errata sheets - the blank pages that come with a draft transcript for your deponents to use in correcting or changing testimony - serve an important function. But there are five strict requirements for using them, and if you fail to satisfy all five elements, the entire errata sheet may be deemed a nullity. We tell you how to do it right, and what to look for if you want to challenge an opposing w...

You finished your examination of a witness whose deposition you noticed, and the opposing lawyer - who did not cross-notice the deposition - has launched into a lengthy cross that goes far beyond anything you covered. And there's no end in sight. How much cross beyond the scope of your examination is "too much?" When is it okay to stop the deposition, and seek a protective order? We pr...

You and your team take laptops to every deposition. But you never take a printer. Why? Portable printers are lightweight, modestly priced, and worth their weight in gold in pretrial depositions. Deponents often refer to documents, places or things that you can easily find online and then print as exhibits on the spot. You can also instantly generate new discovery, based on information gleaned duri...

Are you independently audiotaping all your depositions? (We know you're not.) But why aren't you? Listen as Jim Garrity explains why you should routinely audiotape depositions, apart from stenographic or other means, and provides case authority and specific federal rule citations. Garrity argues that having an independent audiotape of deposition testimony is an incredibly powerful tool, wi...

The documents reviewed by deponents in order to refresh their recollections, before their upcoming testimony, can be of critical value. What did they look at? Is it something you even knew existed? You may need to get your hands on them. But there's a right way, and a wrong way, to lay the foundation in order to compel their production. In this podcast, we explain how to do it, using Federal R...

"Legal contention" questions have been widely ruled objectionable in depositions. But what are they? What should you be listening for in order to spot them? Why is it okay to ask them in interrogatories, but not in depositions? In this podcast, we explain what a legal contention question is, why it's objectionable in deposition, and how to recognize one. (They're very commonly aske...

What's the "right" style for deposing witnesses? Full-on confrontation, using your best evidence to attack the witness's views? Or something more subtle, to lay the groundwork for an ambush at trial?

In this episode, we answer the question, "Can a lawyer demand the deponent limit his or her answers to 'yes' or 'no'? Or can the witness go beyond a strict yes-or-no question to add context?"

In this second segment of Episode 2, we discuss different tools for capturing sworn testimony, including affidavits. Part I focused on depositions and EUOs. This part focuses on affidavits, tips for choosing which method you should use (and when), and when to pass on taking depositions at all.