Litigation Lawyers in South Williamsport

Depositions are part of the discovery procedure in South Williamsport, Pennsylvania civil litigation.

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

In South Williamsport, Pennsylvania, one way to receive 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 South Williamsport, Pennsylvania

Depositions are usually conducted in South Williamsport, 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.

It should not be any shock, then, that civil depositions in South Williamsport, Pennsylvania can go on for a very long time. If you are contacted to appear in a deposition in South Williamsport, Pennsylvania, this can be a major headache.

To mitigate this, the law of South Williamsport, Pennsylvania usually 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 favorable to one side or the other.

In South Williamsport, 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 South Williamsport, Pennsylvania Lawyer Help?

If you are the plaintiff or defendant in a lawsuit, you almost definitely already have a South Williamsport, Pennsylvania 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 a South Williamsport, 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.