Litigation Lawyers in Hillsborough

Civil depositions occur during civil litigation in Hillsborough, New Hampshire. They are part of the discovery process.

"Discovery" is a process that occurs before a trial in Hillsborough, New Hampshire. During the discovery process, both sides are required to make relevant information available to each other.

One of the most effective ways to get information relevant to a lawsuit in Hillsborough, New Hampshire 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 Hillsborough, New Hampshire

Depositions in Hillsborough, New Hampshire serve a very important purpose: getting 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, potential incarceration, or any other reason.

Civil Depositions in Hillsborough, New Hampshire, 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 Hillsborough, New Hampshire should be prepared for some substantial inconvenience.

To help deal with this fact, Hillsborough, New Hampshire allows witnesses who are being deposed to be compensated for their time. They can be reimbursed for lodging, travel expenses, and given a small amount of money for their time. Remember, however, that this money is most definitely NOT conditioned on the witness giving testimony that's advantageous to one side, and omitting information that's unfavorable. This would be bribery, and it is highly illegal.

If you are called to a deposition in Hillsborough, New Hampshire, 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 Hillsborough, New Hampshire Lawyer Help?

If you're a party to a Hillsborough, New Hampshire 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 Hillsborough, New Hampshire 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.