Litigation Lawyers in Montgomery County

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

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

In Montgomery County, Pennsylvania, one way to get this information is to find the people involved in the dispute (whether they're witnesses or parties), and ask them questions about the issues you believe them to have knowledge of. A civil deposition is usually a pretty simple process: the person being deposed is sworn in (they are under oath, just as if they were in a courtroom). Because the whole point of a deposition is to get testimony on the record, a stenographer or video technician will also be present, recording the whole deposition. The lawyer then asks questions of the witness, and the lawyers for the other side are able to object to certain lines of questioning, if they wish.

Conducting A Civil Deposition in Montgomery County, Pennsylvania

Depositions in Montgomery County, Pennsylvania are meant to get verbal testimony on the record and into evidence, when there is concern that the person being deposed might be unable to show up and testify at trial, or their testimony will take far too long for them to testify at trial.

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

Because of this fact, the law in Montgomery County, Pennsylvania 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 certain way ceases to be compensation, and becomes bribery, which is a crime.

If you are called to a deposition in Montgomery County, Pennsylvania, it's absolutely essential 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 Montgomery County, Pennsylvania Lawyer Help?

If you are the defendant or plaintiff in a lawsuit, chances are good that you'll have to appear in a deposition. You should, by this point, already be represented by a Montgomery County, Pennsylvania civil litigation attorney. You should do whatever they tell you to do (unless, of course, they tell you to lie, in which case you should find a new lawyer).

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 Montgomery 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.