The first breakout session I attended today was "Use of Experts in Windstorm Cases." On so many levels, this excellent course could have been entitled simply, "Use of Experts." The key is preparation, preparation, preparation.
Attorneys welcome the consultation of Experts whether the attorneys represent Policyholders or Insurance Companies. The Experts educate the lawyers who educate their clients. Again, the key is preparation.
The same key unlocks the second breakout session I attended today, "Be a Better Witness: Rules for Navigating Deposition Preparation and Testimony."
In the case of Videotaped Depositions, the title of this session could easily have worked without the word, "deposition". This informative session was all about Preparation and Testimony for Trial as well.
All three of the presenters agreed that a video deposition is just the same as testifying at Trial in the sense that all sides will or may play parts of the video testimony to the Jury. Preparation is the key to success in video testimony, as preparation is the key to success in so many other things in life. The witness in a video deposition needs to be prepared to speak to the Jury in her own mind when she testifies in the deposition. She needs to make eye contact, in this case with the camera. This obviously can lead to the witness feeling the pressure of testifying. The best way for the witness to remain calm is preparation.
If the witness in a video deposition takes a long time to answer what seems to be a simple question, for example, there are consequences that do not exist in other types of depositions. The video deposition "long pause" will be shown to the Jury, for example, whereas there is nothing similar in the deposition transcript even if the Court Reporter makes a note like, "(Pause by the witness before answering)," or some other notation to that same effect.
In either case, whether the testimony is recorded in a video or in a transcript, a "long pause" before the witness answers indicates that the witness needed more preparation than she received before she went into the deposition room to testify.
Simply put, if the case is worth litigating, it is worth preparing. If the testimony is important enough to videotape, it is important enough to review. That observation applies in the long run as well as in the short run, in my judgment. Either way we think of it, the answer comes out the same on this one: Evaluate yourself and improve.
© 2014 by Dennis J. Wall. All rights reserved. No claim to original U.S. Government works.
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