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Witness Preparation Checklist for Deposition
My field is communications. My specialty is witness preparation. I am not a lawyer. Because I do not have to split my time between preparing a case and preparing a witness, I am free to focus exclusively on the problems and needs of witnesses. Over the years of preparing witnesses for both deposition and trial, I have made some interesting discoveries. For one thing, with proper preparation, there are very few witnesses who will remain bad ones. Almost all of them want to do the best job possible. They are highly motivated. The major reason for the problems and mistakes is lack of understanding of what is expected and lack of practice time to turn instructions into behavior.
More than you might imagine, the preparation of witnesses — particularly for deposition — is barely more than “Just tell the truth, you'll be fine.” Sometimes this direction comes with a list of written instructions, or perhaps some oral advice like, “Just answer the question. Don't volunteer. 'I don't know' or 'I don't remember' are fine answers.” All excellent directions, but what do you think witnesses get from these instructions? Not much. They hear. The instructions seem logical. However, once the witness is turned loose in the deposition room, the instructions are not applied.
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