Although I’ve been posted here regularly (sometimes semi-regularly) for more than ten years, I think it’s time to wrap up this blog and put some sort of bow around it.
As of now, I have no plans to delete the blog entirely. After all, it still gets thousands of page views every week.
But I
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Fast and Thorough Deposition Preparation
The sixth revision to my book about depositions, Deposition Checklists and Strategies, is available from James Publishing.
Here’s information about the book from the James Publishing website–
Creating an outline is the most efficient way of formalizing your preparation for a deposition. Use the outlines and pattern questions in Deposition Checklists & Strategies to…
The Top Legal Podcasts
From Legal Productivity, “Top 10 Legal Podcasts,” by Tim Baran–
Trying to maintain a current, relevant legal blog is hard enough. Podcasts require a whole other level of commitment. Not surprisingly the landscape is littered with dated efforts. However there are a few legal podcasts that continue to churn out quality programming.
Baran…
Discovery Tip: Interrogatories About Requests for Admissions
Requests for admissions should be accompanied by a separate interrogatory that says something like this: “To the extent that any of your responses to any of Defendant’s requests for admissions is other than an unqualified admission, list all facts on which you based any part of your response that is not an unqualified admission, identify…
Depositions of Corporate Representatives: The "Second-Bite" Issue
We’re talking about 30(b)(6) depositions or their state-court equivalents. As a plaintiffs’ lawyer, I’ve always taken the position (usually in Illinois state-court cases) that these do provide a “second bite at the apple.” In other words, if I serve a notice for a corporate-rep deposition, and XXX Corp. makes Mr. Squirrely available to testify about…
When Are Leading Questions Permitted During Federal-Court Depositions?
Can lawyers ask leading questions during federal-court depositions? If so, when?
Under federal rules, the examination and cross-examination of witnesses during depositions proceeds “as permitted at trial.” Fed.R.Civ.P. 30(c). This means that the propriety of leading questions is determined just as it would be at trial.
The issue of leading questions at trial is the…
New Legal Fiction: A Book Review
At my other blog, Evan Schaeffer’s Legal Underground: “David Lat’s Supreme Ambitions: A Review.”
Those Preliminary Deposition Questions: Don't Make a Speech
Because they’re impatient to get it out of the way, some lawyers turn the standard preliminary deposition questions into a speech:
Hi, I’m Bill Smith. I represent the plaintiff and I’m here to ask you some questions today. As you probably know, you’re under oath today and sworn to tell the truth. I’m here today…
How to Write a Good Request for Admission: A Second Take
Requests for admissions “can provide a good avenue in which to firmly establish undisputed facts at trial,” says Keith Lee in his post at Associate’s Mind.
Titled “How to Write (Better) Requests for Admission,” Lee’s post is a welcome primer on an often-misunderstood topic. As Lee notes–
Requests for Admissions are sort of…
How to Write a Good Request for Admission
Gregory S. Forman, a lawyer from South Carolina, has a helpful blog post titled “What makes a good request for admission?” If you happen to be drafting some requests for admissions, you might want to take a look. I advise reading the whole thing, so that you’ll fully understand Forman’s closing lines–
Thus,…