Litigation Lawyers in La Porte

Depositions are part of the discovery procedure in La Porte, Texas civil litigation.

The discovery procedure in La Porte, Texas is one of the most significant parts of the civil litigation process. During the discovery phase, each side of the lawsuit is obligated to make all of the relevant information it has in its possession available to the other side.

In La Porte, Texas, one way to obtain relevant evidence is to ask people involved in the dispute (both parties and witnesses) about their knowledge of the matter. This is done through a civil deposition. It is essentially a question and answer session between a lawyer, and a witness or party to the action. A lawyer for the other side is present, as well as a court reporter or videographer. The lawyer asks questions of the person being deposed, who must answer them under oath.

Conducting A Civil Deposition in La Porte, Texas

Depositions in La Porte, Texas serve a very significant purpose: obtaining 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, possible incarceration, or any other reason.

Civil Depositions in La Porte, Texas, can take a very long time to be completed, usually lasting several days, and occasionally going on for weeks. So, people who are called to give depositions in La Porte, Texas should be ready for some significant inconvenience.

To help mitigate this inconvenience, La Porte, Texas 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 significant problem: this would amount bribery, and it is a serious offense.

When giving a deposition in La Porte, Texas, 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 starts, 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 La Porte, Texas Lawyer Help?

If you're a party to a La Porte, Texas lawsuit and are obligated to appear at a deposition, one would hope that you've already retained a lawyer by this stage in the proceedings. Your attorney will have a lot of advice for you, which you should of course follow.

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 La Porte, Texas 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.