Litigation Lawyers in St. Tammany Parish

A civil deposition in St. Tammany Parish, Louisiana occurs in many civil litigation cases, as part of the discovery process.

In St. Tammany Parish, Louisiana, "discovery" is a time-consuming procedure that occurs before a case goes to trial. In the process, each side of the lawsuit is legally required to disclose all of the relevant information they have in their possession to the other side.

One of the most effective ways to acquire information relevant to a lawsuit in St. Tammany Parish, Louisiana 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 person 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 primarily 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 St. Tammany Parish, Louisiana

If the parties believe that a witness in St. Tammany Parish, Louisiana won't be able to show up in court to testify during trial, because of age, poor health, upcoming military deployment, potential 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.

St. Tammany Parish, Louisiana 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 St. Tammany Parish, Louisiana civil deposition, this could prove to be incredibly inconvenient.

To mitigate this, the law of St. Tammany Parish, Louisiana 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 give testimony that's advantageous to one side or the other.

In St. Tammany Parish, Louisiana depositions, everyone being deposed is under oath. This means that you are legally and morally obligated to answer every question truthfully. If you deliberately misrepresent your knowledge (lie), you are guilty of perjury. And if you're caught, you could end up facing jail time and/or some very steep fines.

How Can A St. Tammany Parish, Louisiana Lawyer Help?

If you are the defendant or plaintiff in a lawsuit, chances are good that you'll have to appear in a deposition. You should, by this point, already be represented by a St. Tammany Parish, Louisiana civil litigation attorney. You should do whatever they tell you to do (unless, of course, they tell you to lie, in which case you should find a new lawyer).

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 St. Tammany Parish, Louisiana 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.