Litigation Lawyers in Rainsville

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

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

One way to acquire this information in Rainsville, 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. Usually, 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 Rainsville, Alabama

Depositions in Rainsville, 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.

Rainsville, 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 Rainsville, Alabama civil deposition, this could prove to be incredibly inconvenient.

To help mitigate this inconvenience, Rainsville, Alabama allows 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 Rainsville, Alabama, it's absolutely essential 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 Rainsville, Alabama Lawyer Help?

If you are the plaintiff or defendant in a lawsuit, you almost certainly already have a Rainsville, Alabama lawyer. If either party to the lawsuit calls you for a deposition, your lawyer will have plenty of advice for you. You should, of course, follow that advice to the letter.

If you're not a party to the case, but have relevant information, you might be subpoenaed to appear in a deposition. In this case, you probably don't need to hire a Rainsville, Alabama litigation attorney, but it would not be a bad idea to seek out a brief consultation with one, to get an idea of what to expect.