Litigation Lawyers in Blount County

Depositions are part of the discovery process in Blount County, Tennessee civil litigation.

In Blount County, Tennessee, "discovery" is a time-consuming procedure that occurs before a case goes to trial. In the process, each side of the lawsuit is legally required to disclose all of the relevant information they have in their possession to the other side.

One way to acquire this information in Blount County, Tennessee is to simply sit down with someone involved in the dispute, or with knowledge of some of the issues, and ask them questions. This can be done through a civil deposition, which is basically a Q&A session between a lawyer, and the person being deposed. A lawyer for the other side will also be present. The person being deposed is answering their questions under oath, just as if they were testifying in court. Because of this, it's important to get their statements on the record. For that purpose, a court reporter or videographer will be present.

Conducting A Civil Deposition in Blount County, Tennessee

Depositions in Blount County, Tennessee 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.

Blount County, Tennessee 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 Blount County, Tennessee civil deposition, this could prove to be incredibly inconvenient.

Therefore, Blount County, Tennessee'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 sometimes 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 associated with testifying.

If you are called to a deposition in Blount County, Tennessee, 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 Blount County, Tennessee 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 Blount County, Tennessee 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 are not directly engaged in the lawsuit, you might still have to appear at a deposition, if you have information that's relevant to the case in Blount County, Tennessee. You probably don't need to hire a lawyer in that case, but it might be a good idea to at least get a consultation from one.