Litigation Lawyers in La Vista

Civil depositions happen during civil litigation in La Vista, Nebraska. They are part of the discovery procedure.

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

One way to receive this information in La Vista, Nebraska 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. Normally, 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 La Vista, Nebraska

Depositions are normally conducted in La Vista, Nebraska if a person's testimony will take several days, or more, to deliver. By doing this before a trial, the jury can be presented just with the testimony that turns out to be relevant, saving everyone a good deal of time. It is also useful if there is any reason to suspect that the witness will be unable to show up in court.

La Vista, Nebraska civil depositions can go on for a long time - sometimes going for a week or more. If you get subpoenaed to provide your testimony in a La Vista, Nebraska civil deposition, this could prove to be incredibly inconvenient.

Thus, La Vista, Nebraska's civil procedure rules authorize 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 called to a deposition in La Vista, Nebraska, it's absolutely necessary 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 La Vista, Nebraska Lawyer Help?

If you are the plaintiff or defendant in a lawsuit, you almost definitely already have a La Vista, Nebraska 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 likely don't need to hire a La Vista, Nebraska 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.