Litigation Lawyers in Batesburg Leesville

Depositions are part of the discovery process in Batesburg Leesville, South Carolina civil litigation.

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

One of the most effective ways to acquire information relevant to a lawsuit in Batesburg Leesville, South Carolina 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 Batesburg Leesville, South Carolina

Depositions in Batesburg Leesville, South Carolina serve a very important purpose: acquiring testimony on the record, and admitted as evidence, when there is some reason to suspect that the witness won't be able to appear in court during trial, because of health, potential incarceration, or any other reason.

Civil Depositions in Batesburg Leesville, South Carolina, can take a very long time to be completed, usually lasting several days, and sometimes going on for weeks. So, people who are called to give depositions in Batesburg Leesville, South Carolina should be prepared for some significant inconvenience.

To help mitigate this inconvenience, Batesburg Leesville, South Carolina allows 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.

When giving a deposition in Batesburg Leesville, South Carolina, be sure to answer all of the questions honestly, and to the absolute best of your knowledge. You will be sworn in before the deposition begins, and you will be under oath, just as if you were in open court. So, if you lie, you are committing perjury, which can land you in jail.

How Can A Batesburg Leesville, South Carolina Lawyer Help?

If you are directly involved in a lawsuit in Batesburg Leesville, South Carolina, 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 during the deposition.

If you are not a party to the case, but are subpoenaed to testify in a deposition, you should at least consult with a Batesburg Leesville, South Carolina attorney, who can advise you on how to proceed.