That deposition in Chicago turned into a three ring circus last month

I spent 8 hours prepping a witness last Tuesday for a routine deposition. The opposing counsel showed up 30 minutes late and started arguing about the definition of 'quarterly revenue.' My witness got flustered and contradicted a statement from 3 years ago. Now the judge wants a new hearing because of conflicting testimony. Has anyone else had a depo completely derailed by one bad question?

2 comments

2 Comments

ninaross1mo ago

Boy howdy, bad questions can wreck an entire case in minutes. I watched a coworker trip over a simple question about dates and it snowballed into three days of extra work. Sounds like you need a better prep session focused on the tough spots.

the_sage1mo ago

I tried a whiteboard approach before a tricky deposition last year where I had to nail down a timeline. I wrote out all the dates and events in a row, then had someone fire questions at me while I stood there without notes. It forced me to spot the gaps I would have stumbled on, like a missing receipt or a conflicting email timestamp. That extra hour of practice saved me from looking lost in front of the jury, and it really made the prep stick better than just talking through it.