Litigation Lawyers in Westmont

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

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

One of the most effective ways to get information relevant to a lawsuit in Westmont, Pennsylvania is to conduct a deposition of a party who you believe to be privy to that information. A deposition is a Q&A session between an attorney representing one of the parties to a lawsuit, and someone who has knowledge relevant to the lawsuit. This can be one of the parties, or a witness. The person being deposed is sworn in, and must answer all of the questions presented to them under oath. An attorney representing the other side can object to lines of questioning, on every grounds that would be valid during in-court testimony. The purpose of this is primarily to get the objection on the record, but if it proves to be a major sticking point, a judge can rule on the objections later. If any questions are found to be invalid, the questions, and their answers, will not be shown to the jury during trial. This is much more effective than simply instructing the jury to disregard a question and answer they've already heard.

Conducting A Civil Deposition in Westmont, Pennsylvania

Depositions in Westmont, 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.

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

To help mitigate this inconvenience, Westmont, Pennsylvania authorizes witnesses who are appearing in depositions to be paid a set amount of money for their time, and reimbursed for travel expenses. However, if there is any evidence that this money is being used to influence a witness' testimony, there is going to be a serious problem: this would amount bribery, and it is a serious offense.

In Westmont, 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 very steep fines.

How Can A Westmont, Pennsylvania Lawyer Help?

If you are the plaintiff or defendant in a lawsuit, you almost certainly already have a Westmont, 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 a lawsuit in Westmont, Pennsylvania, but have knowledge about some of the facts that are at issue in a pending case, you might still be called to appear in a deposition. In that case, you probably don't need to hire a lawyer.