#230 Georgia Workers' Compensation Lawyer - What NOT to do at your deposition? PART 2

Hello, okay. So, this video is part 2 of what you should not do in a deposition.  The first thing. There's seven different pieces we have and we'll go into some explanation here on this video. But the first thing you should not do is not telling the truth.  So, what I mean by that is there's a lot of negatives there. It's important that you're truthful. At the very beginning of your deposition you're gonna be sworn under oath. You swear to tell the truth the whole truth and nothing but the truth. And so, therefore, it is anticipated throughout your deposition that you will be honest. And you need to be honest. As someone who's been injured on the job in a workers compensation setting or even as a plaintiff in a car wreck case, one of the main things you have is credibility. Credibility that you actually were injured. Credibility that your pain is what you say it is. If you lie under oath, you lose credibility. And if you lose credibility, you can lose your claim, just because of the fact that the people who decide on your case may decide that you're not telling the truth. So, it's very important that you are truthful throughout the entire deposition. So, number 2 exaggerate your injuries or exaggerate circumstances. You do not want to exaggerate. You want to downplay if anything. You do wanna tell the truth again but you do not wanna say your pain is a 10 out of 10 while you're sitting in a two and a half hour deposition not moving not flinching not having to get up and stand and so forth. And I'm not saying you should do those things in your deposition. What I'm saying is, your pain is probably not a 10 out of 10 if you're able to sit comfortably in the deposition chair in two and a half hours or less and not have to move. And so, don't exaggerate your injuries. Don't exaggerate details.  Be very truthful. Downplay, that's more important. Number 3, answering questions before the other attorney who's asking them is finished. You're gonna see where a lot of these things are going a lot of the questions or background questions. "What's your name?" "What's your address?" "How long have you lived there?" "What's your date of birth?" "Are you married?" "Do you have children?" You're gonna see exactly where the questions are going. But don't cut them off. Let them finish. We've seen some attorneys that decide that they're gonna be tricky because the person's answering questions before they're finished. Asking them. So wait for them to ask the question completely. Pause for a second or two and then answer the question. If the question is complicated, some of our main things that we always tell people is you should say… "I don't understand the question..." They ask two different questions. Also known as compound question. Also known as compound question. You may say… "I'm sorry I didn't understand that..." And make them repeat the question. They should only ask you one question at one time. So, if there's any confusion, the most important thing is not to guess. And the most important thing is to make sure you understand the question they're asking before you respond accordingly.  Number 3. Arguing with the other attorney. They ask you a question or they say something that you're just not happy with.  The last thing you should do is argue with them. It's their deposition. They can make things a lot worse… but you should not argue with them. Answer the question; Keep it as short and concise as possible; And then have them move on. Really the idea. Just like I said in the other video is answer your questions, you've got to be there, get through the process and get out. You don't have to volunteer information. Make them ask the questions. Let's move on down the list. Walking out before it's complete. Kind of goes with arguing with the attorney. we've had situations where the injured worker. Got upset with questions that were being asked and decided to walk out of the deposition. Now, if you walk out and leav