Litigation Lawyers in Coventry

Depositions are part of the discovery procedure in Coventry, Rhode Island civil litigation.

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

One of the most effective ways to obtain information relevant to a lawsuit in Coventry, Rhode Island 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 Coventry, Rhode Island

Depositions in Coventry, Rhode Island serve a very significant purpose: obtaining 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.

It should not be any shock, then, that civil depositions in Coventry, Rhode Island can go on for a very long time. If you are contacted to appear in a deposition in Coventry, Rhode Island, this can be a massive headache.

To help mitigate this inconvenience, Coventry, Rhode Island authorizes 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 significant problem: this would amount bribery, and it is a serious offense.

If you are called to a deposition in Coventry, Rhode Island, 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 Coventry, Rhode Island Lawyer Help?

If you are the plaintiff or defendant in a lawsuit, you almost definitely already have a Coventry, Rhode Island 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 immersed in the lawsuit, you might still have to appear at a deposition, if you have information that's relevant to the case in Coventry, Rhode Island. 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.