Mock Deposition
Last year, all of my classes (except for Legal Writing) had over 100 students in them. I’m currently taking a class called Pre-Trial Civil Law with just three. We had five on the first day of class, but two dropped during the second week.
The professor, a personal injury plaintiff’s attorney, spoils us by bringing special guests (and, as you can see, pizza) to most of our classes.
Last week, he brought in a court reporter, whose job it is produce official transcripts of court hearings and depositions (testimonies given under oath) by transcribing speech into written form using a stenotype.
The reporter transcribed the mock depositions we took during class, and a few days ago, she e-mailed the transcripts back to us.
I was representing a girl who fell on a trampoline and injured her elbow. The trampoline was owned by the girl’s friend’s parents—the people I was suing for negligence—who were holding a graduation party for their son on the day the injury occurred.
The trampoline came with a Safety Rules sign that read, “Supervise trampoline at all times,” and “Only one jumper at a time.” When the accident occurred, the parents were nowhere near the trampoline and they didn’t have the Safety Rules sign posted.
I took the deposition of Gerald Smith (as played by my professor), the injured girl’s friend’s father.
When I got a bad answer, I pressed Mr. Smith, and I pressed him until I got an answer I liked. Though this type of questioning, I got him to admit that he wasn’t concerned about whether the kids at the graduation party drank and drove:
Q: Were you concerned about them drinking and then driving back home?
A: Kids have to be responsible for themselves.
Q: So you weren’t concerned about the kids drinking and then driving home?
A: It’s really not a problem.
Q: But were you concerned about it?
A: No.
Something tells me that won’t sit well with the jury.
I also Mr. Smith to admit that he had been “put on notice” as to the trampoline’s dangerousness:
Q: Have you ever heard of someone getting hurt on a trampoline?
A: Not really, no.
Q: You’ve never heard of anyone getting injured on a trampoline?
A: I mean, you know, we’ve had little scuffs and bruises over the years but no big deal.
Of course, not all of the deposition went so well. I wasted a lot of time arguing with Mr. Smith:
Q: Do you see how someone could badly injure herself on a trampoline?
A: Not really, no.
Q: You don’t even see how it’s a possibility?
A: No.
Q: Well, when you jump on a trampoline, you jump high—right?
A: You jump normal.
Q: Right. But because it’s a trampoline, you go higher off the ground than you would go if you weren’t on a trampoline.
A: You can only get so high.
Q: But you can get higher than you can get without the trampoline.
A: So what.
Q: So if you fall from a high height, you can hurt yourself.
A: If you fall off a cliff, you could hurt yourself.
Q: And would you let your daughter go on the edge of a cliff?
A: She has gone hiking.
Well, that accomplished nothing.
In retrospect, I should have asked more open-ended questions. I should have asked better follow-up questions. I should have spent more time committing Mr. Smith to his answers.
But this was my first deposition. I’ll get better.
Technorati Tags: Deposition, Questions, Pre-Trial
Posted in Classroom Observations | 
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February 12th, 2007 at 3:18 pm
Don’t you hate it when the deposed won’t cooperate and give you the answers you’re looking for? Ran into that problem over and over again in my arbitration class a few years ago. I guess it’s just a matter of learning how to ask the right questions and giving the witness enough rope to hang themselves with.
Rob
February 12th, 2007 at 3:29 pm
Deposing witnesses and taking testimony is definitely a skill that takes time to develop. Then again what do I know, since I’ve probably taken 6 depositions in 35 years of practice.
February 12th, 2007 at 4:06 pm
Ricky,
Our next door neighbors have a trampoline that is falling apart. It is dangerous and an eyesore. Can you help?
Jennifer L.
(SOOP member)
February 12th, 2007 at 5:08 pm
Great that you got an admission that he didn’t hang around, and its definitely ok to mess around hoping for a Perry Mason moment (am i dating myself?), but when if you wanted to pin him down about notice, it might have been better to ask him about his inhibitions:
you spend alot of time on that trampoline?
you ever go on with your daughter together?
etc…
You don’t have to go for the kill, instead, you can save that for later - you can read the stuff into the record at trial, and then extrapolate durng closing arguments at the end of trial.
ie - he told you he wouldn’t get on that trampoline himself….
February 12th, 2007 at 6:46 pm
Now that we’ve (not just me) figured out you have to type your name ABOVE the “Name” line (maybe this can be changed) I can comment. I wonder how many parents would just breeze through such questioning and remain aloof to the entire situation. When I think of some of the possible injuries it makes me shiver. I still believe in fun but I think risk can be minimized with some care - true for trampolines, pools etc. Just goes to show you, you can’t expect the answers you’d get from every witness (when you go to trial) - to be the same as SOOP members’ answers.. right?
February 12th, 2007 at 7:12 pm
Dear Ricky,
Two nights ago, the pipes in the apartment above mine burst, and caused significant damage to my property. What action, if any, can we take on our Scrooge-y landlord?
Thank you,
Susie
P.S. The purpose of this blog is to answer unsolicited law inquiries, correct?
February 12th, 2007 at 7:38 pm
Counselors Jennifer and Susie,
Perhaps you can direct your trampoline owning neighbors to my blog? That’s the best I can do for you, as I am not licensed to practice law in the state of Michigan. But something tells me you know somebody who is…
And as for the pipes, exactly how much damage did they do to your property (in dollars and cents)? I’d start by telling your landlord what happened (preferably in letter form—use big words) and asking him to pay for the damages. It’s a good starting point and there’s nothing to lose.
-Rick Lax
February 13th, 2007 at 10:05 am
Can I sue my ex-girlfriend for convincing me to try to do a back-flip on my own trampoline? It would be really nice to get reimbursed for the hundreds of dollars I used to have that my chiropractor now has.
February 13th, 2007 at 9:45 pm
how intimidating is it with just 3 in the class? i can’t imagine the pressure to always be prepared
February 14th, 2007 at 5:44 pm
pizza!
February 15th, 2007 at 5:31 pm
Counselor Judy,
It is tough knowing that you can and will be called on at least 10 times per class (the classes are 2.5 hours long), but my professor keeps things informal. If you get a question wrong, it’s no big deal.
-Rick Lax
December 16th, 2007 at 12:47 am
very interesting, but I don’t agree with you
Idetrorce