Answers to Basic Questions About Legal Depositions

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If you are serving as a witness in a criminal case, you may be asked to give a legal deposition to relay what you know about the situation in question. The legal system is notoriously complicated and confusing, so here are some answers to questions you might have about what a deposition is, how you can give one, and what you need to do to prepare for it.

What is a legal deposition?
A legal deposition typically refers to an out of court testimony given by a witness orally and then transcribed for use in court. They usually feature a lawyer asking a witness a series of questions to a witness to prepare a testimony to be used in a court case. These are typically used if the witness cannot appear in person in the courtroom.

How can I give one?
There are a few different ways to give a deposition, but one popular way of doing it these days is to take advantage of video technology. Since the deposition will be transcribed, recording it is an easy way to document the interview itself. There are professional video deposition services who record these and can provide a number of different types of media like DVDs, CDs, flash drives, and more.

What do I need to do to prepare?
You should try to be as prepared as possible before giving your deposition. You should anticipate what questions you’re going to be asked and make sure that you are going to be able to answer them clearly and accurately. You should never lie in a deposition and make sure that you have all of your information straight before going into it.

Depositions are used pretty commonly in court, so there’s no need to stress or fret over having to give one. Just make sure that you prepare well for it and always tell the truth. Continue reading here.