A New Approach to Preparing Your Client for Deposition

       During my scurrying this week to accommodate both Kyle’s funeral and already scheduled depositions, any numbers of things were patched or otherwise fell through the cracks. Co- counsel with no prior client involvement ended up having to prepare our plaintiff for deposition. The initial preparation the day before proved disastrous as a result of an approach which could probably predominate the practice today. Most lawyers prepare their witnesses in a sort of robotic way, anticipating questions and providing the client tools to respond in a way which we either help the case the most or least hurt their cause. But local counsel wanted to make the plaintiff into something she was not. My approach has always been to accept your plaintiff as they are, deal with the realities of the situation and put your sharp lawyer brain to work in figuring out a way to use it to your advantage. Failing to treat your client as human and work within their own abilities and limitations could have proved to be a fatal error. By letting a client know that you believe in them and helping them with the more human difficulties or being in a deposition builds upon a confidence which will typically shine through under sworn oath. Attempting to make you client “look” right or say things in the right way simply increases the level of terror they are experiencing pre-deposition.
       When you treat your client ilke a human being with real concerns and fears, you will help them find their confidence, their voice and their passion for the cause you are both perusing.