How to Testify at a Deposition

If you are ever a party to a lawsuit or are a witness to facts that are relevant to a lawsuit, you may have to provide a deposition. A deposition is a pretrial discovery device in which one party's lawyer will ask the witness questions to be answered under oath. A deposition usually occurs at a lawyer's office. A written transcript or video will be made of the deposition, and as a party or witness, you should have your own lawyer at the deposition defending you.

Instructions

Difficulty: Moderately Challenging

1. Answer the questions by simply telling the truth because you are under oath. Your answers are the equivalent of testifying in a court of law.
2. Listen to each question carefully and be sure that you understand the question before providing an answer. In fact, pause for a moment and repeat the question in your head before answering. This will ensure you understand the question and help you provide concise, accurate answers. It will also provide your attorney an opportunity to object if needed.
3. If you do not understand the question or cannot hear it, ask the questioner to repeat or clarify the question.
4. Generally, answer solely the question that is asked and do not volunteer unnecessary details or additional information. An exception to this is if the extra information is critical to the understanding and correctness of your answer.
5. Generally, if you do not know or do not remember the answer to a question, simply answer "I don't know," or "I don't remember." Do not guess or speculate as to what you believe the answer might be. You are not expected to remember every detail at a deposition because, for the most part, your deposition will be occurring many months or even years after the events occurred.
6. If you need to see a document in order to provide a correct or truthful answer, reference the document in your answer.
7. When taking a break at the deposition, avoid chatting with opposing counsel or the opposing party. It is not worth the risk that these "friendly" conversations will come back to bite you through harming your case or opening up a new line of questioning.
8. Simply follow your attorney's advice. If he or she instructs you not to answer a question, do not answer the question.

Tips & Warnings

• If you have been contacted or subpoenaed to provide deposition testimony and are not represented by an attorney, you should contact your lawyer to address any concerns or questions that you might have.