Litigation Lawyers in Lehigh County

Depositions are part of the discovery process in Lehigh County, Pennsylvania civil litigation.

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

In Lehigh County, Pennsylvania, one way to get relevant evidence is to ask individuals involved in the dispute (both parties and witnesses) about their knowledge of the matter. This is done through a civil deposition. It is essentially a question and answer session between a lawyer, and a witness or party to the action. A lawyer for the other side is present, as well as a court reporter or videographer. The lawyer asks questions of the person being deposed, who must answer them under oath.

Conducting A Civil Deposition in Lehigh County, Pennsylvania

Depositions are normally conducted in Lehigh County, Pennsylvania 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.

It should not be any surprise, then, that civil depositions in Lehigh County, Pennsylvania can go on for a very long time. If you are called to appear in a deposition in Lehigh County, Pennsylvania, this can be a massive headache.

To mitigate this, the law of Lehigh County, Pennsylvania 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.

When giving a deposition in Lehigh County, Pennsylvania, be sure to answer all of the questions honestly, and to the absolute best of your knowledge. You will be sworn in before the deposition begins, and you will be under oath, just as if you were in open court. Therefore, if you lie, you are committing perjury, which can land you in jail.

How Can A Lehigh County, Pennsylvania Lawyer Help?

If you're a party to a Lehigh County, Pennsylvania 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 Lehigh County, Pennsylvania 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.