The Litigation Psychology Podcast - Episode 185 - Biggest Mistake by Defense Attorneys in Depositions

Bill Kanasky, Jr., Ph.D. talks about the biggest mistake defense attorneys are making at deposition, which is the erroneous assumption that the beginning of the deposition, when plaintiff's counsel is questioning the witness on background information, is not important. The witness (and the attorney) need to understand that those background questions are part of the setup for the plaintiff attorney and are critical for establishing good habits in responses from the witness that will need to be applied during the rest of the deposition. When witnesses get too comfortable with answering background questions, which are not perceived as threatening to the witness, they put themselves at a higher degree of risk to slip up when the questions become more difficult. Defense attorneys need to take the background questions seriously and practice them with their witnesses so they don't fall for the trap being setup during the background questions. It is imperative that defense counsel work with witnesses to establish proper habits in answering questions right from the outset of the deposition.