Ciceronian Review: Depositions

January 08, 2004

Depositions

Litigation practice has good and bad, no surprise. It used to be that the Southern District of New York was about the worst place to practice in the country. Depositions were mostly just drawn insult and shouting matches. The judges have put an end to that and it is now a pretty good place to take depositions. I wish I could boast about Utah on those terms. Instead, we are stuck in the old days, where neither civility nor the Rules of Civil Procedure nor standing orders of the court has much effect on conduct. Here is an excerpt from a recent performance by a senior partner at a leading local firm. (I have edited the text to remove identifying information. The objections are there in full.)

Q. Did they tell you that you were violating
your agreement by doing that?
B. I object to the question on the
grounds it's argumentative, on the grounds that you're
attempting to fragment and mischaracterize and nullify
his prior testimony to the extent you are assuming or
asking him to agree that what they said to him was not
in substance what you're asking him.

Q. And my question is, why is it, you think,
that this clause, Subsection iii, refers to
discretionary patients rather than to enrollees?
C: Objection, asked and answered.
B: And is argumentative at this
point.
A. I thought I answered that.
Q. Well, I didn't understand it if you had.
B: Counsel, it's not his job to
make you understand.
Q: It's really not your job to
intervene, B, so please.
B: It's my job to protect the
record, and where you're badgering the witness, he's
not here to explain it. If you don't understand it,
Q, that's your --
Q.: Doctor, with respect to

Well, there you have it. Objections which are barred by Rule, and some are just made up for the occasion. The good and the bad.

January 08, 2004 in Law | Permalink

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» Civility in Litigation from Notes from the (Legal) Underground
Civil litigation -- an oxymoron? It is in some parts of the country, where depositions continue to be very uncivil affairs, despite rules (ethical and otherwise) that require trial lawyers to behave professionally towards one another, i.e., like adults... [Read More]

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January 08, 2004

Depositions

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