Litigation Lawyers in Ste. Genevieve

Civil depositions occur during civil litigation in Ste. Genevieve, Missouri. They are part of the discovery process.

In Ste. Genevieve, Missouri, "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 Ste. Genevieve, Missouri is to simply sit down with someone involved in the dispute, or with knowledge of some of the issues, and ask them questions. This can be done through a civil deposition, which is basically a Q&A session between a lawyer, and the person being deposed. A lawyer for the other side will also be present. The person being deposed is answering their questions under oath, just as if they were testifying in court. Because of this, it's important to get their statements on the record. For that purpose, a court reporter or videographer will be present.

Conducting A Civil Deposition in Ste. Genevieve, Missouri

Depositions are typically conducted in Ste. Genevieve, Missouri 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 everybody 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.

Civil Depositions in Ste. Genevieve, Missouri, can take a very long time to be completed, typically lasting several days, and sometimes going on for weeks. So, people who are called to give depositions in Ste. Genevieve, Missouri should be prepared for some substantial inconvenience.

Because of this fact, the law in Ste. Genevieve, Missouri allows witnesses who are appearing for depositions to be compensated for the expense associated with it. This includes reimbursement for gas, lodging, and food. They can also be paid a certain amount of money for every hour they testify, to compensate them for their time. However, this money can only be conditioned on the witness showing up and giving truthful testimony. Trying to condition it on the witness testifying in a specific way ceases to be compensation, and becomes bribery, which is a crime.

If you are called to a deposition in Ste. Genevieve, Missouri, it's absolutely imperative 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 Ste. Genevieve, Missouri Lawyer Help?

If you're a party to a Ste. Genevieve, Missouri 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 Ste. Genevieve, Missouri 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.