How do you deal with an uncooperative witness in a deposition? I have one coming up where the witness is totally nuts based on what I’ve found out about him, and I anticipate I’m going to get a lot of push back from him during the depo

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You: “Permission to strike the witness”
You: “Granted”
You: 👋

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I’ve seen counsel call the judge’s chambers and have an impromptu Zoom with the judge where the judge reprimanded the witness and threatened sanctions.

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Deponent is not being cooperative and you’d appreciate judicial intervention to make the expectations of both parties clear (so it sounds less like you’re just asking the judge to yell at them)

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Depends on the obstruction: non-responsive or blatantly untruthful. If non-responsive, I instruct the witness that I am entitled to answers to my question and will ask it until I get an answer and will keep bringing them back to continue the dep until the questions are answered. If blatantly untruthful, I let them keep digging as I usually video my deps and a jury/defense counsel/adjusters can all figure that out on their own

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Do you have a staff that has good people skills? Some people it just comes naturally being able to speak with people. No matter how nuts they are! I think we are all nuts in some ways. ❤️

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Being conversational as opposed to confrontational in a deposition goes a long way. The more you can make the witness like you, the more info you’re going to get out of him.

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You can't get the witness to adopt your narrative, so just confront them with the facts. If they agree, that's your job for you. If they fight reality, they're losing the case.

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Being conversational as opposed to confrontational in a deposition goes a long way. The more you can make the witness like you, the more info you’re going to get out of him.

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