WHAT NOT TO DO AT YOUR DEPOSITION (PART 2)

3) Avoid testifying that you are worse off now than after the accident

It is common knowledge that symptoms of physical and emotional trauma will subside, and the person will be recovering when sufficient time has passed. Therefore, it would be wrong to testify that you are still feeling the same pain or even more, compared to what you felt after the accident. With such remarks, you can lose your credibility fast because the human body would have shown signs of healing by then.

The lawyer of the insurance company will be highly experienced in eliciting such testimony from you, by probing your attitude. He might suddenly ask whether you feel better now, compared to how you felt after the accident. This is bait, and the wrong answer would be saying that you are feeling the same pain as you felt back then.

If you actually still in pain saying that you are in pain could still be a hit on your credibility. This is because the judge or mediator and the other side is going to wonder why you do not seek help. If you are in pain you should see a doctor and a chiropractor as well. Then you would not be in pain by the time the deposition comes around. If you do not do anything then the other side is not going to believe you are actually in pain. And if you are in pain and you do not do anything about it, people are just going to question your state of mind. You certainly do not want that either.

4) Do not answer in one word when you feel your answer could be incomplete

At a deposition, the opposing lawyer will try to box you into saying something complete, when it is possible to add further facts later. This is called “closing the door” on your particular testimony. For instance, the lawyer might ask, “Have you revealed all the symptoms you have had, due to the accident?”. If you answer in the affirmative then making any additions later on will make you sound inconsistent and false. Hence, unless you are very sure that you have given the complete details about the question and there is not going to be any further additions, modifications, or explanations, you can answer with a simple “yes”.

However, if you feel that your response is incomplete and there might be certain things that you might want to add later on, you could provide a more detailed answer such as “At present this is what I recollect, but there could be other things that I am unable to remember right now”.