Litigation Lawyers in Shelbyville

A civil deposition in Shelbyville, Illinois occurs in many civil litigation cases, as part of the discovery process.

In Shelbyville, Illinois, "discovery" is a process that occurs before a civil trial, during which both sides are required to disclose relevant evidence to the other.

One way to acquire this information in Shelbyville, Illinois 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 Shelbyville, Illinois

In Shelbyville, Illinois, the main reason to conduct a deposition, as opposed to having someone testify in court, is to save time. After days of depositions, the jury can be presented with just the relevant testimony, if the case goes to trial. Furthermore, it's a good idea to conduct a deposition if there's any reason to believe that the witness will not be able to show up to court to testify, due to poor health, or any other reason.

Shelbyville, Illinois 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 Shelbyville, Illinois civil deposition, this could prove to be incredibly inconvenient.

To mitigate this, the law of Shelbyville, Illinois normally 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 give testimony that's beneficial to one side or the other.

Remember, when you give a deposition in Shelbyville, Illinois, you're under oath. This means that you are under an absolute obligation to tell the truth. If you deliberately lie while under oath, you are committing perjury. Perjury is a serious crime, and can be punished by fines and imprisonment.

How Can A Shelbyville, Illinois Lawyer Help?

If you're a party to a Shelbyville, Illinois lawsuit and are required 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'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 Shelbyville, Illinois 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.