Litigation Lawyers in Mahanoy City

Depositions are part of the discovery procedure in Mahanoy City, Pennsylvania civil litigation.

"Discovery" is a procedure that happens before a trial in Mahanoy City, Pennsylvania. During the discovery process, both sides are obligated to make relevant information available to each other.

In Mahanoy City, Pennsylvania, one way to acquire relevant evidence is to ask persons 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 Mahanoy City, Pennsylvania

Depositions are typically conducted in Mahanoy City, 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 everyone 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.

Mahanoy City, Pennsylvania civil depositions can go on for a long time - sometimes going for a week or more. If you get subpoenaed to provide your testimony in a Mahanoy City, Pennsylvania civil deposition, this could prove to be incredibly inconvenient.

To mitigate this, the law of Mahanoy City, Pennsylvania 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 provide testimony that's advantageous to one side or the other.

In Mahanoy City, Pennsylvania 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 extremely steep fines.

How Can A Mahanoy City, Pennsylvania Lawyer Help?

If you are directly engaged in a lawsuit in Mahanoy City, Pennsylvania, and have to appear at a deposition, you should already be represented by a lawyer. It goes without saying that you should do whatever they advise you to do throughout the deposition.

If you're not a party to a lawsuit in Mahanoy City, Pennsylvania, but have knowledge about some of the facts that are at issue in a pending case, you might still be contacted to appear in a deposition. In that case, you likely don't need to hire a lawyer.