Litigation Lawyers in Rainbow City

In Rainbow City, Alabama, a civil deposition is a part of the discovery process in civil litigation.

"Discovery" is a process that occurs before a trial in Rainbow City, Alabama. During the discovery process, both sides are required to make relevant information available to each other.

One way to get this information in Rainbow City, Alabama is to conduct a deposition. A deposition, at its core, is a fairly simple process. A deposition is a question and answer session conducted outside the courtroom. Typically, it takes place in the office space of an attorney representing one of the parties. There are a few people who are almost always present at the deposition: there's the person being deposed, the lawyer who is going to be asking the questions, a lawyer representing the other side of the lawsuit, who can object to any questions being asked (a judge can rule on the objections later), and a court reporter or video recorder, to ensure that the testimony ends up on the record.

Conducting A Civil Deposition in Rainbow City, Alabama

Depositions in Rainbow City, Alabama are meant to get verbal testimony on the record and into evidence, when there is concern that the person being deposed might be unable to show up and testify at trial, or their testimony will take far too long for them to testify at trial.

Rainbow City, Alabama civil depositions can go on for a long time - occasionally going for a week or more. If you get subpoenaed to give your testimony in a Rainbow City, Alabama civil deposition, this could prove to be incredibly inconvenient.

To help mitigate this inconvenience, Rainbow City, Alabama permits witnesses who are appearing in depositions to be paid a set amount of money for their time, and reimbursed for travel expenses. However, if there is any evidence that this money is being used to influence a witness' testimony, there is going to be a serious problem: this would amount bribery, and it is a serious offense.

If you are called to a deposition in Rainbow City, Alabama, it's absolutely imperative that you answer all the questions truthfully, to the best of your knowledge. When testifying in a deposition, you are under oath, just as you would be in open court. Deliberately lying in a deposition is perjury, which is a serious crime.

How Can A Rainbow City, Alabama Lawyer Help?

If you are directly engaged in a lawsuit in Rainbow City, Alabama, and have to appear at a deposition, you should already be represented by a lawyer. It goes without saying that you should do whatever they advise you to do during the deposition.

If you're not a party to a lawsuit in Rainbow City, Alabama, but have knowledge about some of the facts that are at issue in a pending case, you might still be called to appear in a deposition. In that case, you probably don't need to hire a lawyer.