Many experienced paralegals sit in on depositions not to ask
questions but to take notes and assist the attorney in “reading” the
witness. By this I mean; while the attorney is asking questions,
usually prepared questions, the paralegal’s job is to take notes about
what the plaintiff answered as well as pay close attention to the
demeanor of the plaintiff while answering the questions. Is the
plaintiff fidgeting? Did the plaintiff say something “new” something
that was not mentioned during their responses to discovery?
The attorney’s job is to ask questions, follow up on original
questions in order to get additional information out of the witness when
the plaintiff’s answer is vague, and pay close attention to what is
being said so that he or she can object or follow up with another
question. The paralegal’s job is to scan the room constantly and keep a
close eye on the witness and the adversary attorney(s).
As a paralegal, it's important to take
very good notes and learn to interpret non-verbal communication. Those
two skills will make you an invaluable member of your legal team. As an example: A few years ago I was sitting in a deposition with my
managing attorney. We were deposing a plaintiff in a personal injury
matter. During the initial discovery process of the case we had been
getting medical information from the plaintiff by using the social
security number he had provided us with his answers to interrogatories.
During the deposition the attorney asked the plaintiff for his social
security number. When I heard the number, it didn’t make sense to me.
I made a note of it and while the attorney continued to follow his line
of questioning I took a look at plaintiff’s answers to interrogatories.
I noticed that the social security number we had been provided was
different from the one plaintiff was giving us at this time. During one
of the deposition breaks I informed the attorney. When we got back to
the deposition the attorney was able to question plaintiff regarding
that other social security number and we found out that the plaintiff
had come to the country illegally and received an illegal social
security number. When he obtained his legal status he received the
legal social security number.
After the deposition I went back to my desk and, after speaking with
the attorney, I sent out requests medical records. However, I used the
new social security number. A few weeks later I received the new medical
records informing us of a completely different accident.
We were able to show that the injuries of which plaintiff was
complaining were pre-existing conditions and the plaintiff had been involved in an earlier personal injury action which he settled a few
years before ours. I’m not saying that the attorney would not have been able to pick
this up at some point. However, because I had all the documents with me
and was taking notes, the attorney was able to concentrate on his line
of questioning and put the witness at ease by making eye contact.
The witness had no reason to believe that we had just caught him in a
lie because the attorney’s demeanor did not change and the attorney did
not have to take time out to write anything down which would have
caused the witness to be able to “recover” from the lie or think about
an excuse.
It's almost a no brainer for a paralegal to review the questions and know the case file well prior to a deposition. However, make sure you work on your note taking and witness assessment skills. It sounds like a boring task but it is invaluable to your attorney during depositions.
1 comment:
Very professional and invaluable!
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