So much emphasis and effort is (rightfully) put on your moving papers on your noticed motion, but don’t forget to prepare for the hearing. Even if you have a hunch how your motion will go, there’s still much to be gained from the hearing itself. (more…)
Filed under: Civil Litigation, Discovery, Legal Topics, Litigation Strategy | Tagged: hearing, law and motion, noticed motion, oral hearing, social networking | 1 Comment »
You’ve taken depositions and got some great testimony for your case. Unfortunately, the jury wasn’t in the deposition room to hear it. So now that you are at trial, it’s your chance to make effective use of the deposition testimony in front of the jury. But how do you do that?
Filed under: Civil Litigation, Discovery, Legal Topics, Litigation Strategy | Tagged: deposition, deposition testimony, evidence, introducing evidence, jury, trial, using discovery at trial | 2 Comments »
After you’ve ensured that your client is preserving all potentially relevant or responsive electronic data, you need to identify what E-data to collect for potential use in the litigation, including for discovery. This means you need to find the key data custodians and pick their brains. (more…)
Filed under: Civil Litigation, Discovery, Legal Topics | Tagged: data custodian, discovery, e-discovery, electronic data, electronic discovery | Leave a Comment »
Part of your deposition preparation has to be preparing your client for his or her turn at the depo table. Most attorneys spend their time preparing their clients for the substance of the deposition and what specific questions to expect and how to answer them. Although this is obviously important, it is equally important that your novice client knows what to expect at a deposition generally and is clear on what is expected of him or her as the deponent. Here’s a checklist to help you get your client ready. (more…)
Filed under: Civil Litigation, Discovery, Legal Topics, Young Lawyers | Tagged: deposition, discovery, litigation, witness | 3 Comments »
Video recording of depositions is very common and is clearly more effective in capturing a witness’ demeanor than a written transcript. But there are also downsides to video recording a deposition and a serious expense involved. Don’t just jump to record — weigh the pros and cons in every case. (more…)
Filed under: Civil Litigation, Discovery, Legal Topics, Litigation Strategy | Tagged: civil litigation, depositions, discovery, expert depositions, pretrial, video recording, videotaping | 4 Comments »
Unlike some forms of discovery that are sent out as a matter of course, deciding whether or not to take an oral deposition requires some thought and consideration of the pros and cons. (more…)
Filed under: Civil Litigation, Discovery, Legal Topics, Litigation Strategy | Tagged: deposition, discovery, oral deposition | 7 Comments »
Here are 10 arrows in your quiver of objections to shoot at any discovery request. The key is to aim only with an objection that is factually justified and to hit the request on the bullseye. (more…)
Filed under: Civil Litigation, Discovery, Legal Topics, Litigation Strategy, Uncategorized | Tagged: discovery, litigation, objections, pre-trial preparation | 2 Comments »
Handling objections in a deposition can be tricky. Some objections are subject to “use it or lose it.” Others aren’t waived even if you fail to raise them in the heat of the moment. Here’s a run down on objections during depos under California law. (more…)
Filed under: Civil Litigation, Discovery, Legal Topics, Litigation Strategy | Tagged: deposition, discovery, form of question, objections, oral deposition, protective order, waiver | 1 Comment »
When planning your discovery, you need to know all the key numbers, i.e., the numerical limitations on the various discovery methods. Here’s a handy overview so you will know how much is too much under California’s discovery statutes.
Filed under: Civil Litigation, Discovery, Legal Topics | Tagged: demands for production, depositions, discovery, discovery plan, form interrogatories, interrogatories, numerical limitations on discovery, requests for admission, special interrogatories | Leave a Comment »
During discovery, parties often use search terms to separate the wheat from the chaff, i.e., the irrelevant or unresponsive data from the relevant or responsive information. The sheer volume of electronic material makes the use of search terms a necessity, but, as with many conveniences, there is some risk involved. The key may be in agreeing to share search terms that will improve the process without showing your hand. (more…)
Filed under: Civil Litigation, Discovery, Legal Topics | Tagged: discovery, e-discovery, search terms | Leave a Comment »
