Litigation Lawyers in Atlantic City

Civil depositions happen during civil litigation in Atlantic City, New Jersey. They are part of the discovery procedure.

"Discovery" is a procedure that happens before a trial in Atlantic City, New Jersey. 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 Atlantic City, New Jersey 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 Atlantic City, New Jersey

If the parties believe that a witness in Atlantic City, New Jersey 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. Furthermore, if they have to be questioned for several days, it is a good way to save the court's time.

It should not be any shock, then, that civil depositions in Atlantic City, New Jersey can go on for a very long time. If you are contacted to appear in a deposition in Atlantic City, New Jersey, this can be a massive headache.

To help mitigate this inconvenience, Atlantic City, New Jersey authorizes witnesses who are appearing in depositions to be paid a set amount of money for their time, and reimbursed for travel expenses. However, if there is any evidence that this money is being used to influence a witness' testimony, there is going to be a significant problem: this would amount bribery, and it is a serious offense.

If you are called to a deposition in Atlantic City, New Jersey, it's absolutely necessary 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 Atlantic City, New Jersey Lawyer Help?

If you are the plaintiff or defendant in a lawsuit, you almost definitely already have an Atlantic City, New Jersey lawyer. If either party to the lawsuit calls you for a deposition, your lawyer will have plenty of advice for you. You should, of course, follow that advice to the letter.

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 likely don't need to hire an Atlantic City, New Jersey 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.