Litigation Lawyers in Goose Creek

Depositions are part of the discovery procedure in Goose Creek, South Carolina civil litigation.

"Discovery" is a procedure that happens before a trial in Goose Creek, South Carolina. 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 Goose Creek, South Carolina 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 Goose Creek, South Carolina

If the parties believe that a witness in Goose Creek, South Carolina won't be able to show up in court to testify during trial, because of age, bad health, upcoming military deployment, possible incarceration, or any other reason, a deposition is a very good way to get their testimony on the record before the trial. Additionally, if they have to be questioned for several days, it is a good way to save the court's time.

Goose Creek, South Carolina 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 Goose Creek, South Carolina civil deposition, this could prove to be incredibly inconvenient.

To mitigate this, the law of Goose Creek, South Carolina typically entitles people being deposed to reimbursement. They can be compensated for travel expenses, lodging, and a can be given a small amount of money simply for their time. However, this is meant to be reimbursement for the time and expense incurred in attending a deposition, and it is most definitely not payment for the witness to provide testimony that's advantageous to one side or the other.

If you are being deposed in Goose Creek, South Carolina 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 Goose Creek, South Carolina Lawyer Help?

If you're a party to a Goose Creek, South Carolina lawsuit and are obligated to appear at a deposition, one would hope that you've already retained a lawyer by this stage in the proceedings. Your attorney will have a lot of advice for you, which you should of course follow.

If you are not a party to the lawsuit, but are subpoenaed to testify in a deposition, you should at least contact with a Goose Creek, South Carolina attorney, who can advise you on how to proceed.