Litigation Lawyers in Washington County

In Washington County, Arkansas, a civil deposition is a part of the discovery procedure in civil litigation.

"Discovery" is a procedure that happens before a trial in Washington County, Arkansas. During the discovery process, both sides are obligated to make relevant information available to each other.

One of the most effective ways to receive information relevant to a lawsuit in Washington County, Arkansas is to conduct a deposition of a party who you believe to be privy to that information. A deposition is a Q&A session between an attorney representing one of the parties to a lawsuit, and someone who has knowledge relevant to the lawsuit. This can be one of the parties, or a witness. The individual being deposed is sworn in, and must answer all of the questions presented to them under oath. An attorney representing the other side can object to lines of questioning, on every grounds that would be valid during in-court testimony. The purpose of this is mainly to get the objection on the record, but if it proves to be a major sticking point, a judge can rule on the objections later. If any questions are found to be invalid, the questions, and their answers, will not be shown to the jury during trial. This is much more effective than simply instructing the jury to disregard a question and answer they've already heard.

Conducting A Civil Deposition in Washington County, Arkansas

Depositions in Washington County, Arkansas serve a very significant purpose: receiving testimony on the record, and admitted as evidence, when there is some reason to suspect that the witness won't be able to appear in court during trial, because of health, possible incarceration, or any other reason.

So, it shouldn't be astonishing that civil depositions in Washington County, Arkansas can generally go on for several days. If you are subpoenaed for a deposition in , Arkansas, you are typically obligated to appear. This can be a source of some inconvenience.

Thus, Washington County, Arkansas's civil procedure rules permit a person to be compensated for the time and money they spend in appearing at a deposition. If the witness lives far away from the location of the deposition, as is occasionally the case in large trials, they can be reimbursed for travel and lodging expenses, and compensated for their time. However, this money cannot be used to influence HOW they testify, just to mitigate the inconvenience linked with testifying.

If you are being deposed in Washington County, Arkansas you absolutely must answer all the questions truthfully and completely, to the best of your knowledge. You are under oath, and if you lie, and are caught, you could be prosecuted with perjury, which can carry jail time.

How Can A Washington County, Arkansas Lawyer Help?

If you are the plaintiff or defendant in a lawsuit, you almost definitely already have a Washington County, Arkansas 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 are not directly engaged in the lawsuit, you might still have to appear at a deposition, if you have information that's relevant to the case in Washington County, Arkansas. You likely don't need to hire a lawyer in that case, but it might be a good idea to at least get a consultation from one.