Plaintiff Trial Lawyer Tips

Gerry Spence advised an approach to taking the deposition of a fact witness (non-expert) that emphasized conversational inquiry rather than confrontational questioning. His approach was to have a demeanor that was calm and non-threatening with the witness. In practice, a Spence deposition was much more like a conversation than an interrogation. That relaxed demeanor influenced the witness to say far more than they planned. He argued “The deposition is not the place to win the case.”  He recommended that lawyers…

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“By failing to prepare, you are preparing to fail” Benjamin Franklin In our office, my law partner and wife, Lita Barnett Luvera, legal responsibilities included preparing clients and witness for their deposition. The other lawyers relied upon her for the preparation and she was very good at it. Lita had a procedure which she followed and has outlined for full explanation. Here is the procedure she followed in her words. INTRODUCTION Your goal is to become your client’s new best…

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                               I have had the issue of the defense or insurance company hiring someone to spy on my client in the hopes it will show the client is not hurt as badly as claimed. What follows is the raw memo I developed in anticipation of creating a deposition outline. You hopefully may create ideas from it if you have the issue. (FRAME AS: “tailing, stakeout, spying, tracking, snooping, secretly watching, sneak, peeping Tom, prying, invading privacy”) INTRODUCTION . 1.Name,…

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