Litigation Lawyers in Steelton

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

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

In Steelton, Pennsylvania, one way to obtain 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 typically 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 specific lines of questioning, if they wish.

Conducting A Civil Deposition in Steelton, Pennsylvania

Depositions are typically conducted in Steelton, 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 Steelton, Pennsylvania can go on for a very long time. If you are contacted to appear in a deposition in Steelton, Pennsylvania, this can be a huge headache.

Thus, Steelton, Pennsylvania's civil procedure rules permit a person to be compensated for the time and money they spend in appearing at a deposition. If the witness lives far away from the location of the deposition, as is occasionally the case in large trials, they can be reimbursed for travel and lodging expenses, and compensated for their time. However, this money cannot be used to influence HOW they testify, just to mitigate the inconvenience linked with testifying.

If you are called to a deposition in Steelton, Pennsylvania, it's absolutely imperative 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 Steelton, 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 time, already be represented by a Steelton, Pennsylvania civil litigation attorney. You should do whatever they tell you to do (unless, of course, they tell you to lie, in that 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 likely don't need to hire a Steelton, 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.