WHY DO ATTORNEYS OBJECT DURING DEPOSITIONS?

Most LNCs when being prepped for deposition are told to pause before answering opposing counsel’s question.? It can be hard to remember this instruction when you know the answer and are eager to share your knowledge.? Pausing after the opposing counsel’s question is done for two reasons.? First, your attorney wants you to think about the question asked.? Did you understand the question correctly?? If so, the pause allows you the time to formulate an accurate and concise answer that addresses his question and nothing more.? Don’t overshare.?

?Pausing after being asked a question is also done to assist your attorney. The pause gives your attorney the opportunity to object to the question. A legal objection is a formal protest made by an attorney during a trial, deposition, or fact-finding hearing to object to evidence, testimony, or a question from the opposing side.? The purpose of an objection is to tell the judge that the other side’s evidence, testimony, or question should not be allowed.

?At trial, before that witness testifies, the judge will rule on the form of objections made at their deposition. If the attorney fails to object to form at the deposition, that objection is forever waived.

If your attorney does not prepare you for possible objections, you may think him mad and wonder what you are supposed to do. Have no fear. After his objection is recorded by the court reporter, he will instruct you on whether or not to answer the opposing counsel's question which may be restated differently.

Here are some of the most common attorney objections:

1. Asked and answered. Your client will almost always give a slightly different answer the second time.

2. Calls for speculation - "What if you would have...?" "Is it possible that...?"

3. Argumentative - "But you didn't do that, did you?" "Why did you do...?"

4. Calls for a legal conclusion - "Do you think my client failed to act as a reasonably prudent person?"

5. Compound question - "What time did you leave your house, and then what time did you get on the road, and then what time did the crash happen".

6. Calls for a narrative - "Tell me everything that happened."

7. Lacks foundation - hearsay, jumping from point A to point C. If the question is confusing, misleading, or meant to harass, object to form on those bases.

There is a method to his madness and it benefits you both.